In a new low for our city, a matron at a children's home in Mankhurd set an appalling benchmark for cruelty
In a new low for our city, a matron at a children's home in Mankhurd set an appalling benchmark for cruelty. A report in this paper cited how she mercilessly beat up an eight-year-old for spending too much time in the toilet, and then, made the child lick her own vomit, after the girl threw up following the assault.
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The incident came to light the next day, after other children at the shelter told a teacher about it. Trombay cops have booked the matron and are waiting for the girl's parents to come and take her custody.
While this is an isolated incident, we have come across too many horrifying stories that take place within the walls of shelter homes, where kids are subjected to gross neglect and left to live in abysmal conditions.
While the traumatised girl revealed her ordeal, no doubt there are countless other children who are too afraid to come forward with their own stories of abuse.
It is imperative that shelter homes install CCTV cameras within the premises. Authorities that govern these institutions must make it mandatory for all such establishments to ensure 24x7 CCTV coverage.
The staff must be employed after conducting thorough checks into their overall backgrounds - their mental stability as well as emotional strength. These organisations should ensure the employees are trained to handle children. Do the matrons and care staff demonstrate empathy to children? Are they abreast of the latest methods of care giving and education? These are questions to which we need answers.
One shudders to think about this particular matron's behaviour as matrons are expected to be mother figures. While shelter homes already deal with huge challenges - paucity of space, infrastructure issues and financial crunch - the human factor must be treated as a priority.