Neelam, aged 6, lives with her family. Her father works as a peon in a private school and mother works as part-time domestic servant. She has five other siblings. When the incident took place, her parents were away at work and her siblings were playing in the neighborhood. Neelam was all alone at home when an unknown person came to their house and told her that her mother was calling her. He took her to a lonely park and raped her and left bleeding her in the park. The child somehow managed to get up and go towards the main road. A passerby saw her bleeding and called 100. The police immediately took the child to AIIMS, where she received medical treatment for the injury.

The child got 14 stitches and was admitted to the hospital where she remained for one month.

A member from HAQ had gone to the hospital for another case of child sexual abuse, who also being treated in the same hospital and in the same ward. When the HAQ counselor saw Neelams parents and asked them what happened, they refused to share any details. However, the HAQ counselor left her visiting card with Neelam’s parents and told them to call any time if they ever need any help. After one month when the child was discharged from the hospital, they got in touch with HAQ.

The child and her parents are being counselled from time to time to reduce the level of emotional distress they are under. The counsellor is also trying to convince the parents to send the child and her siblings to a school. However, since the parents are unable to provide for education, the child was sent to a children’s home where her education is being taken care of.

Neelam was initially very scared of people, but gradually after counselling , she became more communicative and settled down well in the ROSE home. Now she has been admitted to a formal school by the home authorities itself. Her parents are also happy to see the improvement and positive developments in their child.

The accused is still absconding. The HAQ team is continuously in touch with the family.