‘EFFORTS TO HELP A VICTIM WERE THWARTED BY HOSPITAL’

I live in Charbagh, which is in the heart of the city. With the advent of commercialization, the area has lost its residential touch. It has approximately 30 hotels (lodges, guest houses, etc.) in a radius of one km. These hotels have made the area around Charbagh a red light area. The female residents of this area don’t feel safe to move out of their houses after 8p.m. For this reason, I was never I allowed to attend late coaching classes. Sharing my personal experience, last year in June I saw a woman in rags wandering aimlessly around my place at 8pm. She was in her early twenties and seemed to be a victim of sexual assault and human trafficking. She was constantly drinking a spiked drink due to which she had lost her memory. My aunt gave her a stole and we called the police for help. We even called an NGO, but they said that they had no vehicle to pick her. Thankfully, the police helped by dropping us at a government hospital , where the in charge said she would not be admitted as we had ‘no source’, the woman had no id proof and we did not know her name. From there we went to another hospital where they clearly said that without any government source they could not admit the patient. In doing all this, the clock struck 11pm. and we had no option but to leave the woman outside the hospital .

That day I lost my faith in humanity and was disappointed with the government. An educated citizen cannot help a needy person , simply because he/she has no source! How do we expect to stop crimes against women when no one is willing to contribute their bit? Even today the thought of that woman and the incident makes me shiver.

Sudeeti Chaturvedi Student, IT College