Mentally challenged women easy targets

Predators feel it is easy to get away as a mentally disabled victim cannot report the sexual assault or identify the culprits due to limited communication skills. Many such women are at risk even at home.

LUCKNOW: A mentally challenged teenager gave birth to a baby who later died at a shelter home here a few years ago.

She lived on the streets and couldn’t identify the person who sexually assaulted her, leading to the pregnancy.

She couldn’t even narrate what happened to her until her health began to deteriorate and some social organisations took her to the hospital and ensured her shelter.

This is just one of many cases of sexual abuse with the mentally challenged.

There are many instances where mentally unstable girls are targeted for sexual assaults.

“Such girls/women are the easiest targets. It is easy to lure them. It is even easy to get away with the crime as the mentally challenged would never identify them or raise any voice against the assault,” says Sangeeta Sharma, a social activist.

No wonder, girls are not safe even within their own homes. Time and again such cases of assault by near ones have come to light.

“My husband assaulted my three-year-old mentally challenged daughter. The assault continued for long but my daughter couldn’t narrate it. Gradually we realised that she was scared of her father. She would cry, run away and become uncomfortable when he was around. I came to know about the torture only after I noticed him abusing my daughter in the bathroom ,” said Vandana Majumdar, mother of two who later filed a divorce case against her husband for abusing his daughters.

“Cases of abuse with the disabled are very common. A number of cases have been reported against deaf and dumb girls also. Special care and attention is needed for women with mental disorders as they can be at risk even within homes, schools, shelter homes and streets,” says Dhiresh Bahadur, who runs a shelter home for disabled destitute children.

Such people are more vulnerable as they are ignorant about right and wrong.

“There is a woman on one of the busy crossings in Lucknow who often removes her clothes and behaves in an odd manner. The onlookers make fun of her. She is really vulnerable to sexual abuse,” says Pragya Khare, an IT professional who lives in the area where the mentally challenged woman is seen.