About 20 years ago Sunday morning calm was shattered around 8’O clock by loud screams from our next door neighbours’s house. We rushed to see as to what had happened. A lot of persons from neighbourhood also had come there. Mrs X was screaming saying something incoherently pointing finger at maid while her husband was beating the maid with stick making her scream loudly. We learnt that their young maid had thrown scalding water on her. Police reached there is short time as call had been made to emergency number. They took the maid and Mr X to police station. Subsequently we learnt as to what had happened.
They had brought a girl of about 12 years from their native place a year earlier as domestic help for household chores with promise to educate her and quarterly payment of decent amount to her parents. But right from beginning it proved false. They did pay money but with delays and there was no move to send her to school as promised. She was made to do all chores at home from morning till late night. She was made to sleep on floor in the kitchen with just a thin mattress and an old blanked during cold weather. On top of that Mrs X used to keep shouting at her and at times hit her. The maid used to look longingly at their children when they went to school. A few times she asked Mrs X as to when would she be sent to school and in reply she got shouting with degrading remarks about her family. Not a single day passed without maid getting shouted at as well as beaten. A couple of days earlier than that incident Mr X tried to molest her when he was alone at home with the maid. She had resisted and ran out of the house. She told this to Mrs X who instead of sympathizing with her beat her very badly telling that she was telling lies to blackmail them. On that morning the maid was asked to boil water for some chore and at the same time she was also asked to prepare breakfast. The maid was finding it little difficult to cope with both tasks. Mrs X lost her temper and started hitting her with the stick. All this while she was abusing her and passing degrading comments on her parents. That is when the maid threw the scalding hot water on her.
This had set me thinking as to why do persons retaliate in such drastic ways. My thinking was and still is that if you deny anyone what is rightfully his or her and do not let them progress alongwith rest of the society, such person will have no option but to rebel. With the current scenario in the country this is more important that if some class of people are not cared for because the their not being a major vote bank, then they would surely rebel. Such situation would be exploited by those with vested interests, including foreign powers by supporting such groups in whatever ways. To avoid that it is of utmost importance that visible and sincere efforts to bring them at par with rest of the society are made by the Government without any bias.
29 comments:
hmm....poverty let rich people misuse the poor easily...
very sad !
This was moving. It is sad indeed to see how people are.
Revenge is best served HOT :P
I think your neighbors deserved it, i m not pro-violence but the kind of stuff they did to her..they should have seen it coming. Just because someone is born in a poor and weak family does not give us right to exploit them.
Thought provoking post Jack. i completely agree with you. I have seen many children (esp girls) in the age group of 10-15 working in households and treated very badly.
Indian society lacks Dignity of labour. When a maid falls ill, we always feel its an excuse. There are families which make the maids work like slaves. It's high time that we understood, that maids are also human beings. Just because they are poor and unfortunate, we don't have the right to exploit them.
Yes, few people treat their domestic help very badly. Few days I also came across similar case when a gentleman was trying to make physical moves towards the maid. Such people should be reported immediately and should be put behind the bars so that others will learn a lesson.
Wow. That was so touching.
Yes, it can be very disturbing. Uncle you've pinned this post beautifully expressing the true state of people.
anyone can turn rebel under above mentioned set of circumstances...plus you should never test somebody's patience beyond their power to endure..poor or no poor tat doesnt matter then..
The divide between haves and have nots creates such issues in the urban areas....its disgusting the way some children treat their maids these days.
Wohooo, well, it seems that only these have nots are being taken care of by the government.
I strongly feel that the behaviour of Mrs & Mr. X was wrong because the domestic help is also human.
But to say that the society is moving forward without caring for them is wrong.
What we have not done till date is to make equality a viable option in our country!
Instead of making people feel like have nots and back ward classes we should make them feel like they are equals, by pushing them to excel.
What really is needed is a system where social obligations are related to, by the government.
Oh..!! This is sad.. :O
misuse of power... :(
Weakest LINK
THINKING :
True, and that is what causes revolutions, isn't it? Take care
PHILO :
It is sad but still happening even today in our so called educated society. Take care
T-F L :
I narrated this happening so many years ago to emphasize what is going on in our country today. Take care
GAYU :
It is so shocking that highly educated persons indulge in such atrocities. Take care
ANN :
How I wish what you say is done! Take care
SONSHU :
How I wish that our political leader understand this exploitation of poor and illiterate in backward areas! Take care
MISHI :
Right you are. It is as simple as filling air in your vehicle, you put in more pressure and the tube bursts. Take care
ALKA :
My aim was to tell by this incident that how we make similar mistake by ignoring aspirations of those whom we call backward community and do not provide facilities for improvement of their living. Take care
SAKSHI :
I agree that the Government surely has plans ready for upliftment of have-nots but it is a different story on ground. I am sure you will agree with me after learning about so many scams of siphoning off of funds intended for that purpose. Why do you think human trafficking is rampant even today? Take care
SHREYA :
Shockingly sad. Take care
RACHIT :
So true! Take care
This is really really sad. Yes, People suppressed over a period of time eventually turn rebels.
It is sad that we still employ kids as labor, to start with..
Jack this is shocking!! We keep hearing about such incidents all around the country and you actually witnessed one such !! this thing called Child labour is a really awful thing.. the way it goes tolerated and not addressed!
I actually read a same incident today in the newspaper , whee a couple living in Dwarka did similar atrocities on the poor maid, they left her locked at home without proper food and went away to celebrate vacation in Thailand, Thankfully Police has lodged a complain against them and they should be behind the bars hopefully. And strangely such an inhuman act has been done by Dr Couple!!. I fail to understand y people don't realize the fact "what goes around comes back around" Aren't they not scared of god or Karma. They are evil beings in disguise of humans.
ME :
That was exactly the point I wanted to make. We have such ambitious plans for upliftment of downtrodden and eradicating child labour but all these vanish in thin air while implementing. Take care
MEERA :
You are the right person to advice as to how much of planned efforts or finances actually reach the ones for whom these are intended. What I have seen or experienced saddens me. Take care
APURVA :
This is just the tip of iceberg. And what saddens is not only they are educated but in such noble profession also. This is second such case within this fortnight. Earlier too it involved a doctor. But will they get what they deserve, knowing the ways of our system, I do not think so. Shocking, isn't it? Take care
Rebel is natural after a point..
that's what we all r witnessing in middle east countries..
This ideology of buying a person with money is disgusting.
Rebel is made and that's very much true in this case.. for that matter, in all such cases i've seen its the child who suffers the most..
strict action shall be taken legally against culprits..
jack you said it!
Truely we have stopped the evolution of our Indic civilization since the time the Muslims too over. There were some changes during Akbar the Great, as in the field of Administration which until then was of Chanakya and Muryan era. Thereafter we have only continued with what the Moghuls and the british handed down to us. the caste discrimination, the naxalite issue, a bit of hmegrown and pak sponsered terrorism-- all because of mismanagement and denial of some promised things to the citizens. I have written a few blogs already on the state of mental health in India . Mental health is growing bad, particularly in the Bengali community with so much of social injustice done by the Communist CPI and now the revenge hungry TMC. Delhi has it's own sorrowful Jat-Gurjar tales, which are as it is fightful socially- economically laggard communities. The increasing road rage in Delhi and Mumbai are the discreet indicators of poor mental health of citizens in the city. UP, Bihar have become lands of Dabangs and Bahubalis and reciprocating in their own ways through massive exodus.
JYOTI :
Why Middle East, there are umpteen examples in our own nation, isn't it? Why did not those in authority pay proper attention to such issues at the fomenting stage itself? Question of vote banks, isn't it? Take care
PRAMODA :
Thanks for such supportive view. I agree that strict legal action should be taken against all those who deny rightful dues to anyone. Take care
MANNU :
You definitely called spade a spade. What is so shocking is that inspite of this being understood by most of those in authority, they still turn blind eye to such issues for hunger of power. How I wish our great leaders at the time of our independence had used their vision properly. Instead of making states it should have been Zones only and reservations only for economically backward which would have automatically covered those for whom these were made. And reservations only at entry level. Education facilities should have been afforded to those who were left behind. Take care
very good she threw that boiling water!
i had a 'maid' friend called Lad...bought from poor relatives from village for the same purpose. at least she wasn't treated so badly..later her dad took her home..her ordeal was over!
even today i shudder to think about her talks and the pain she used to go through
I think sometimes it jsut bcomes too much to take and thats when things go out of control.
The couple is in dire need of counseling. What kind of a man tries to molest a 12 year old! In a civilized society, we call him a pedophile. A family that exploits a child and denies her rights just because she's poor and helpless, deserves strict punishment!
OLD FOX :
It is really so shocking as to how some persons treat their domestic help. In larger picture what about treatment meted out to those who are less privileged? Take care
RIA :
When pressure exerted on someone becomes more than that person can withstand there has to be some reaction. Take care
PURBA :
This was more than 20 years ago. They were socially boycotted by everyone. He also had to incur a lot of expenses to come out of this. Take care
exactly it's just vote bank, power and money !!
In my opinion, the little girl should have thrown water before only. And that is how I relate myself to the government. I think we should take necessary precautions right away. If we keep on waiting for htings to change, it might be too late. Who knows we might not even get water, forget about heating and being rebellious!?
SACH :
I agree that one should not wait for some miracle to improve the situation but act as needed. In larger way our Government too should not let any situation go bad due to neglect of any section of society in progress. Take care
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