Badarpur rape victim’s mother struggles to make ends meet

NEW DELHI: She had come to Delhi in December 2021 in the hope for a better life for her 8-year-old daughter but the dreams of a 32-year-old mother from Bihar were shattered on June 14 when her child was sexually assaulted and bitten on the face by a neighbour in south east Delhi’s Badarpur area

NEW DELHI: She had come to Delhi in December 2021 in the hope for a better life for her 8-year-old daughter but the dreams of a 32-year-old mother from Bihar were shattered on June 14 when her child was sexually assaulted and bitten on the face by a neighbour in south east Delhi’s Badarpur area.

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The woman said that the girl has been unwell and is barely eating since the incident. She is on medication and the mother has been nursing her to health - unable to go for her sewing and stitching job close by. “Mera yahan koi nahi hai... main kya karun? Main kaam pe bhi nai jaa paa rahi.. apni bacchi ke liye is shehar main aayi thi... aur uske saath ye ho gaya (I don’t have anyone here... what should I do? I have not been able to go to work.... I had come to this city for my daughter and this is what had happened with her)” she said.

The woman said that she has lost her job because she has not been able to go to work for a week. She used to earn ₹3,000 a month. The woman’s husband left her three-four years ago to live with another woman and never kept contact after which the woman had been living with her mother in Bihar. But in December, her cousin in Delhi, persuaded her to come to the city and start a new life and give her daughter good education in a government school. About 15 days ago, the cousin left for Bihar on account of some work leaving the woman and her daughter here.

The woman recalled that on the day of the incident, she had gone to work and the 8-year-old was alone at home. “She was having lunch when our neighbour who had shifted here three days ago came inside our room, put his hand on my daughter’s mouth and took her to his room,” she said adding that the accused sexually assaulted the girl and bit her all over her body.

In the evening, when the mother reached home around 7pm, she saw that the daughter was at home and bite marks on her face. “When I asked her, she told me what the neighbour had done but not in great detail because she herself didn’t know. When I went to his room, her wasn’t there,” she said adding that she got a medicine for the girl and applied on the face.

However, the next morning, when the woman saw her daughter’s clothes, she saw blood all over and realized she had been sexually assaulted after which she informed the police.

The woman said that her plight knows no bounds because she cannot inform her own family back home about the incident as well. “They will taunt me that I came to Delhi for my daughter and I couldn’t even take care of her. I am unable to earn money. I can’t stay here and I can’t go back. I can’t live and I can’t die,” she cried.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Esha Pandey said that the accused identified as Rahul has been arrested. Media reports on Monday stated that the accused is found to be HIV positive, however, the DCP said that police have not been given any document stating the same by hospital.