The demon trails

With all of the Me-too testimonies being shared all over the world, it was time I bared my own soul, I thought. My readers would have looked into the darkest part of my existence my column of last month where I wrote of confronting the Devil within the family circle. Many years later, when I had married and had a child, but still in that suppressed and silenced stage of secrecy, my daughter was taken by force into the temporary guardianship of my ex-partner, who was not her biological father or legal guardian. Those were the days power in the Government ranks could be used or misused as and when one felt like it. Hey. Wait a minute, what is different now in the present day anyway? Well to elaborate, the children were just nine, five and three years old at the time and too young to demand their rights. I was too timid to fight. I had returned one evening from a film location to be told by the neighbours that a convoy of jeeps and some cars with tinted windows had been driven into the premises and the children bundled out. I made a few telephone calls and found they had been taken to what used to be their home. On deliberating about it, I thought they would not come to any harm there as their father loved them in all sincerity. Time went on and I realised that my access to my three children was being thwarted by unseen forces. There was also a woman, my successor, who called the tunes in the household there. When I telephoned the residence to speak to my children one day, she came on the line, demanding to have full custody of one of them for a price of one hundred thousand rupees, as though my daughter was an object on sale. When I say I was appalled, I am being kind. That was when I got the balls rolling for a legal battle for the custody of the children. In the meanwhile, the girls were sent to the residence of my ex partner’s daughter who also had a child in the same class as one of my daughters, to spend the time until the father finished work. Sometimes the children would stay there overnight as they were looked after very kindly and well. I was permitted by my ex-partner’s daughter to visit them, and spend a little bit of time with them as she understood the pain I was going through. I shall ever be grateful for all her care and concern for my children. The sad part of the story began about then. Evil will always stalk the good, and one sometimes cannot do much about it. The man of the house, I mean that house where my children would spend time, turned out to be one with a weakness that he could not overcome or control. He preyed on little girls. He set his ugly hands on my ten-year-old daughter while everyone was asleep. I was informed about it soon after, with the plea not to create a problem or to tell her father about it as he may have a heart attack. Over shadowed by my own history, I shut the incident out of my mind, fooling myself that my child too will forget. I was wrong. Very wrong. It scarred her for so many years and I do not think she ever forgave me for not protecting her. She also never got over the fact that no one confronted the demon on her behalf He went on to do the same to a little domestic in the house and others I expect, with no remorse or apology. I wondered if that was a merit that he wore in life, having a daughter. My daughter, though married now and a mother is yet haunted by image of groping hands in the dark and the suspicion that even someone close in the family circle could overstep all borders of decency where a child is concerned. I realise the truth of that so much now. The Demon lives among us in our homes and can strike at a whim. Since I have been through this great depth of darkness, I urge all parents to be watchful and act on the slightest change in the mood of your child. Act now. Confront the demon in your house. Till next time then

THE MAN OF THE HOUSE, I MEAN THAT HOUSE WHERE MY CHILDREN WOULD SPEND TIME, TURNED OUT TO BE ONE WITH A WEAKNESS THAT HE COULD NOT OVERCOME OR CONTROL. HE PREYED ON LITTLE GIRLS