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The silent truth of child sexual abuse victims

SULTANA RAHMAN
Around 80 sexually assaulted children under the age of ten have received treatment over the last four years at the One-stop Crisis Center (OCC) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The OCC is the government's agency that provides medico-legal assistance for victims assaulted sexually and physically.
Among those who have been treated at the OCC of DMCH, two were male children suffering from serious injury due to forced per-rectal intercourse. At the moment, four children under the age of ten are being cared for at the OCC.
Most of the victims were brought in by their relatives, many of whom were too afraid to lodge any formal complaints with the police. In some other cases parents, who had sought legal assistance against the abusers, later withdrew their complaints in the fear that their children might be subjected to social harassment in the future.
Children as young as three even have been treated at the OCC. Three year old Sumi (not her real name) from Bhashantek area in Dhaka was raped on June 17 allegedly by a neighbor named Izzat. She was brought to the OCC in an unconscious state and bleeding profusely.
"My mother had gone to a neighbor's house and I was playing alone. Izzat came and offered me chocolates and then took off my underwear. I started screaming when he forced himself on me and I was bleeding. I do not remember anything after that," said the little girl while playing with three other minors at the OCC.
Parents of a six-year-old at the centre wanted to take their daughter home and were seen arguing with the OCC officials when this correspondent visited the centre.
"I have to consider my daughter's future. If the incident becomes public then she will face social humiliation," said the girl's father.
But while her parents were keen to take her away and were also tying to influence the OCC officials so that charges are not brought against her abuser, the girl begged to differ and wanted capital punishment for the pervert who raped her. On inquiring, OCC officials said that it was her paternal uncle who had violated her on June 21.
"I want to go home and also want the evil person who did this to me, hanged," said the girl while talking to OCC coordinator Dr. Bipul Krishna Chanda. The coordinator said that the OCC had received around 744 cases since its establishment in August 2001. How-
ever, only 39 cases have reached a verdict.
"The lengthy legal procedures sometimes discourages the victims to seek legal assistance," said Dr. Chanda.
"These children may develop long-term mental and physical problems and there is a chance of becoming violent and depressed in the future," said counselor Farzana Rashid Chowdhury.
"We cannot force the guardians into fighting the abusers in the court. But we try to strengthen their resolve and motivate them through counseling."
Sexual assault against children is believed to be a growing phenomenon in our society. However, it is difficult to find out the extent of this perversion as victims and their close ones tend to suppress the incidents.
In 1998, a six-year-old motherless girl Tania, daughter of a poor day-labourer, was raped inside the police control room of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court in Dhaka. Because of the age of the victim and the circumstances surrounding the attack, the incident generated much interest in the media, among the general public and various human rights groups. That case is still waiting a verdict although the alleged rapist is behind the bars.
"In most cases, we do not get witnesses. But there are witnesses and necessary proof for getting a verdict in Tania's case. It is really mysterious why the case is still pending," said advocate Elina Khan, Tania's lawyer.