“What do you think?” someone asked me after I asked how they feel about the recent sexual assault of a four-year old girl in Mapusa. Here’s my answer: it sickens me to no end. Given how the girl was witnessed to have emerged after the assault, her surviving in stable condition is miraculous. This is not the first time a child has been sexually assaulted. Government negligence breeds the continued rise in child abuse cases, ensuring that it certainly won’t be the last. In this case, it also breeds shoddy police patrolling of abandoned structures, thereby catalyzing the continued rise of unlawful activities. Government’s assurances to uphold women and children’s safety sound terrific, but their continued failure to keep their promises has proven terrifying. If only Mapusa police had intensified their patrolling, the traumatization of an innocent child could have been avoided. To alleviate the trauma, high-quality mental health care and top professionals should be roped in to guide her back to normalcy. The greatest injustice would be if she continued to live like the victim long after this incident has passed.
ROSS LOPES, Mapusa
