The Silent Scream
A powerful story that sheds light on the harrowing experience of child abuse and the silent suffering endured by a young girl named Sabina. As she bravely navigates the horrors inflicted by her father, Sabina’s resilience is portrayed with sensitivity.
As darkness drew its grip over her, misery tightened its tentacles all over her tiny body and soul. She was all but twelve years old but what was being done to her shouldn’t ever be happening to any child be it a girl or a boy.
The door opened with a creak and her heart started beating wildly, she sometimes felt why her mother couldn’t hear the desperate plea of help. She could feel her heart noisily screaming for someone to protect her from this demon.
But how would one feel, when the man who is supposed to protect you, is the one who is tearing you apart.
After it was done, the devil quietly left her room. She remained silent.
Sabina stood still in her little bed, her night dress with little brown teddy bears lying crumpled on the floor. She felt dead inside thinking when the abuse would end, when would it all stop and when would she die were the only thoughts in her mind. She woke up and went to the bathroom, she realised she had been bleeding. Yet she remained silent.
Panicking she went inside her room, there was traces of blood on her bed. She felt guilty and shame came sweeping down, how would she deal with this problem now. She lay on the floor silent and crying, her vagina hurt like it did last night when her father entered her forcibly. She decided that she would put an end to her misery. But how could she do that knowing this would hurt her mother.
She didn’t want her mother to suffer and she wanted to protect her little baby sister who was just a year old. But what this little girl didn’t know was in protecting her weak mother and sister, she was killing a part of herself every night, since it began when she turned eleven. Yet she was silent. Now, as she lay on the floor she didn’t have a clue what to do. She heard her mom coming and she quickly changed the bed sheet and faced her smiling.
Sabina was a good actress, she could fool you with her lovely smile. The day it hurt the worst would be the day she would laugh and smile her best. Everyone loved her, an A plus student and a star athlete, everyone was fooled by her except her class teacher. She knew something was wrong.
Miss Shivani Rai had taught her English since she was in standard three, she knew what a spirited lovely child she was and the change that went un noticed by all was keenly observed by her. The first period, was always the class teacher’s period.
It was a long period of an hour, and Shivani always took time to observe each and everyone in her class. Today’s lesson was a poem which had a haunting topic, it was loosely based on ‘child abuse’. A fortunate stroke of luck, or may be Sabina’s silent prayers were heard. Shivani elaborated it to make her class understand that this was something that was happening every where.
“It starts with a touch and and it gets serious if you don’t complain or speak about it. If its happening to you then speak up at least tell me, the more you keep silent the more hurt it will give.” She continued, “It’s not your fault it’s never the fault of the victim, you all are children, the one who is hurting you is the culprit, he or she is the demon
and you all must be brave otherwise this demon will hurt more children maybe your sibling or your friend,” Shivani was trembling when she said this.
She remembered that day when she was playing with her cousins, one sunny winter’s day. She spied her uncle’s nephew, he was maybe twenty years elder to her. She was fond of him, as he used to crack jokes and do the’ moon walk’ for her and her cousin sisters. Then her uncle came with a camera and told them to come closer for a picture.
Shivani was standing away, a bit shy she appeared, her tiny breasts were just budding and it hurt and ached and she felt awkward in front of everyone. There she was standing in a safe corner, when Mahesh pulled her and her cousin. He kept one hand on her cousin’s shoulder and one hand on her’s. Then he dropped his hand and brushed her right breast, accidentally maybe. Shivani had turned beetroot, she was shocked but she didn’t say a word. Now his hand pressed her tiny breast and squeezed it and that really hurt. She had completely frozen and for the next few seconds, as he kept on fondling, Shivani’s life changed completely. She started hating her body, the growing mass of flesh on her chest and she distrusted every man in her family.
While she was thinking about that moment in her life, for a few seconds, she failed to see Sabina crying softly. Then she started crying loudly and the whole class was disturbed. The way she cried and looked at Shivani, even her eyes welled up too, for she realised that what the poem had written about was being actually lived by this little girl. Over a glass of water and after countless tears dropped from both student and teacher’s eyes, did Sabina confide in her.
He was looking handsome in his new suit, the newly appointed Deputy Secretary, was loved by everyone in his department. He was a gentleman who not to so much even raised an eyelid even when his beautiful stenographer went inside his room for dictation. He told his peon to let her enter his office .There were around four people in his office. Two ladies and two men, they were enjoying a cup of tea when she entered his chamber. She came near him and slapped his face twice and held his collar screaming ,”bastard if you hurt her once more I will kill you,” the room was stunned.
Sapan Pradhan, had never seen his sweet, reserved wife Radhika in such a wild state. He was scared, very scared for the first time in his life he felt powerless. The others had frozen staring at her. The wounded lioness of a mother looked at them and said, “he raped our daughter”.
One line from her mouth and she cried but her tears didn’t speak of weakness it was loud and clear to everyone that she wasn’t the dutiful, meek house wife anymore she was more than that. She was the protector of her children now. Sapan was jailed and a court case was slammed upon him. His career was over, years of respect earned died and he was nothing but a broken man.
Today Sabina Pradhan, is a computer engineer and she takes care both of her mother and sister. She is still in touch with Miss Shivani, her second mom. Her father being shunned in jail too, passed away a painful death, maybe the doors of hell too closed down on him. Shivani is still teaching and observing and praying that she wont find another Sabina ever again.
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