Abused kids sent to sanatorium

After being sexually exploited, the boys were at LNJP Hospital

For 18 months, they were sodomised by their school cab driver. But it seems their agony is far from over.
The driver and his three minor friends were also raping the 12-year-old sister of these two boys. Such was the impact of the assault on the tender minds of the kids that even now they wake up abruptly and start crying.


Sordid Saga: File photo of the victims of the school cab rape case at Prasad
Nagar police station in New Delhi. Pic/Subhash barolia

They had been under observation at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital. But now the kids have been shifted to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences in Shahdra for counselling. Their sister has also been been shifted to the same institute, located on the campus of the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital.

Their mother is worried about her children, as she is afraid that other mental patients might harm her kids.
"I am worried whether my children would be safe there or not," she said.u00a0

"We are allotted a room but we are surrounded by violent mental patients. Security guards escorting us have suffered injuries while saving us from some patients but it seems the hospital doesn't care," she said.u00a0u00a0

Explaining the condition in which her kids are, the widow said: "I am not sure whether it will help me or not but their minds are tender and they are yet to come out of the trauma. They scream while sleeping wake up midnight shouting Lalit (the cab driver) will kill me. My children are fine they just need little counselling but I am not sure whether a mental hospital is the right place fo them," she added.

She is also concerned about the loss of a whole academic year. An NGO working for child welfare has opposed the move. "They are not exactly mental patients. They need counselling more than treatment. Moreover, living with mental patients is not going to help their cause," said Rakesh Senger, national secretary, Bachpan Bachao Andolan.