Vacation to Maldives turns ugly, Minor molested by Ski-ride driver

New Delhi: A mother-daughter vacation abroad turned into the most horrible experience of their lives when the seven-year-old daughter was sexually abused.

A woman and her seven-year-old daughter went on abroad vacation to Maldives last week on a five-day trip but a jet ski ride with the driver alone turned into molestation when the mother-daughter duo could not ride together with the driver, India today reports.

The mother became suspicious when her daughter looked awfully upset and revealed the molestation on asking.

“When she got off the jet-ski, she seemed very disturbed, which was unlike her. On asking her she said that the driver touched her private parts. Following this I filed a complaint with the Maldives police,” the victim’s mother said.

According to the protocol, the girl was mandated to undergo a medical examination in Maldives but since they had to catch a flight back to Mumbai, they decided to get the test done in Mumbai.

On returning the woman took her daughter to Juhu’s Cooper hospital but to their shock the hospital staff kept them waiting for hours and moreover made them run from one department to another and even refused examination of the minor despite the complaint letter from the Maldives, which is in violation of the POCSO Act.

“First, they asked us to get an FIR registered at the nearest police station. This is after I showed them the complaint copy from the Maldives police.
Then, they made us run from one department to another. When we reached the gynaecology department, they made us wait there for over 90 minutes. My child was already traumatised and had not slept the previous night. She was exhausted and despite repeated pleas, the doctor-in-charge told us, ‘Is sab mein time lagta hai [all this takes a lot of time]’,” the complaint said.

She added, “We kept waiting and my daughter started feeling dizzy. This is the reason why people don’t report about sexual harassment. Where is the system to deal with it?”
According to the POCSO Act, when a child arrives at a hospital with any complaint of sexual abuse, it is the responsibility of the hospital to inform the nearest police station. Violating the rule can lead to six months of imprisonment.

Nishit Kumar, former head of Childline, said, “As per the POCSO Act, when a child with complaints of sexual abuse is taken to a hospital, they can’t refuse a medical examination. It is the responsibility of the hospital to inform the local police station. And there was no need for a woman constable to be present when her mother accompanied her.”

“It is traumatic for such a child to wait for two hours in a hospital. It just adds to the trauma she has already faced. It is mandatory for the hospital to complete the examination as soon as possible. In this case, as they had a complaint copy from Maldives, there shouldn’t have been any problem in doing the medical examination,” he added.

According to Psychiatrist Dr Sagar Mundada, A sexual abuse victim when the child visits a hospital with the abuse complaint, it is necessary that she is attended by a medical team for immediate counselling.