Samina is 7 years old and lives with her family. One day her parents were having an argument and her mother told her and her elder sister to leave the room. The two girls went outside and started playing together, but after some time her elder sister come inside and this little girl still remained outside. Then a man came up to her, picked her up and took her away to a public bathroom close by and raped her. He warned her against disclosing the incident to her parents and the girl was left feeling terrified. He then left the girl where she was. The girl came back home and didn’t say anything to her mother and silently went to sleep. The next day she started complaining of abdominal pain and itching in her private parts. Her mother applied some oil to the area to ease the irritation, and asked her daughter if something had happened but the child remained silent. A month passed before she finally told her mother what had happened. The next morning she took her daughter to the hospital where the doctor checked the girl and called the police.

Later when an NGO came to know about this incident they approached HAQ: Centre for Child Rights. Members of the HAQ team met the family.

HAQ also provided legal support to the girl. The girl was very scared but with support she gave her statement in the court very courageously without a single sign of fear. Even the public prosecutor of the court remarked on how long it has been since he has seen such a young girl give her statement in court and he commended HAQ’s effort and hard work and the role they played.

Presently the girl has started to resume normal social interactions without fear and has started venturing outside the house again with her elder sister.