There is this scamp of a boy who stays in my neighbourhood. He's about eight or nine years old and is one of the most aggressive children I've seen. Not to mention obsessively hungry - he cannot leave my house without grabbing something to eat. We don't really encourage his visits, as he is quite prone to knocking down vases, crashing Rachu's tricycle and the like. Sindha plays the good cop and I the bad cop with him - I generally give him the evil eye and shoo him out of the house if I see him inside.
He was not to be seen for a few days last week. Showed up on Friday with a fairly large mark on his face - some skin problem, I guessed. He didn't tell Sindha what it was, when she asked him. We came to know later that it was a burn mark. A burn caused by his mother who pushed a red hot metal piece against his face, because he broke something at home.
I really don't know what to do. It's not very easy going to the police to report this, but I should at least stop playing the bad cop when I meet him again.
He was not to be seen for a few days last week. Showed up on Friday with a fairly large mark on his face - some skin problem, I guessed. He didn't tell Sindha what it was, when she asked him. We came to know later that it was a burn mark. A burn caused by his mother who pushed a red hot metal piece against his face, because he broke something at home.
I really don't know what to do. It's not very easy going to the police to report this, but I should at least stop playing the bad cop when I meet him again.
wow. Kids can be a menace, ut burning your own child seems a bit, well, too aggressive. Maybe he is aggressive because of home?
ReplyDeleteExactly! I don't think it's the kid who needs the policing either.
ReplyDeleteThere still might be time for the kid to turn out ok if he's spared any more bad parenting, Madhav.
Can't you make an anonymous call or something? I'm sure there must be NGOs looking into this kind of abuse.
Yeah, maybe I can call up some NGO. Let me see.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few links.
ReplyDeleteThere also seems to be a child helpline.
Hey, thanks! 1098 looks good.
ReplyDeleteThat seems a good option. Police or NGO, the parents are going to deny it. But any authority-type figure might scare them a little. The police are probably quite bad at keeping things anonymous, though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, most police stations in Bangalore now require you to heavily bribe the cops just to lodge an FIR.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's 15000 for a stolen car.
They even refuse FIRs for small things like stolen cells etc saying it spoils the station's record.
So I doubt cops would do anything just because someone called. An NGO seemed more apt...
i lost my wallet at commercial st. lost diamond earrings, keys to the lab, my DL. the friendly policeman at the adjacent police station told me how i'd been mistaken and must've lost it some place else. not within the bounds of his station. cute! no FIR filed, only an application tagged into their books. first class pain in the butt procuring my duplicate DL after that...
ReplyDeletei think they all need help. counseling for the parents. psychiatric help for the kid. definitely not a job for the police...
Sorry to hear about that. Diamond earrings... sheesh!
ReplyDelete