"Ouch!" she screamed, when I touched her cheek. There was a scar.. a not so deep and old one.
"Does it still ache? Isn't it an old and healed one ?" I asked her.
"It hurts. It reminds me of my dad. It really hurts.." she said.
Not knowing how to react I just took her into my arms and she began to cry. Yeah, what else could have been expected?
Some where in the mid of September 2012, my friends and I decided to visit a juvenile home as suggested by our lecturer. We reached there with loads of excitement bagged in and a bit of hesitation and nervousness because it was our first experience and we were clueless about what to talk to the girls there. We went in and thought of exploring that place. It was just then she caught my attention.
"Aww she's so cute" was my reaction looking at her. I saw a very cute, fair, doll like girl sitting under a tree all alone. She was young, very young in fact when I met her. She aged 10 back then.
I went to her, sat beside and asked whats her name. She looked away. May be she was frightened I thought. I made a few attempts to talk to her but being unsuccessful in all the attempts, I decided to go and sit right in front of her.
"Please don't tell my dad that I am here" she said with moistened eyes and hid her face with her hands. "I don't know your dad. Please don't be scared. Trust me." I kept saying this for a several times and then she finally took her hands off her face. Horrified I was at that very moment to see such a big cut mark on her cheek. It was as long as the distance from her right ear to chin.
I insisted her to speak up and recollecting her story still gives me goosebumps.
She was their only daughter and was from a general middle class like most of us. "It was a happy family of three and everything was going great until.." she paused. It took a while for her to hold back the tears and speak again.
Her mom had gone to her grandmom's place for a week leaving her at home with her dad. She couldn't go with her mom as she had her half yearly exams from the next day. That night her dad came home drunk and she saw an entirely different side of him. One of his friends had accompanied him to his home. They took her to the bed room, tore her clothes, raped her violently. He slashed her cheek and hit her every time she tried to defend her self or screamed in pain. It continued for next four days. She bled heavily, she was injured. She was traumatized and helpless. She was locked in a room and was used as a sex object by her father and his friend.
One day just when her dad was done acquiring pleasure, the door bell rang and her dad went to open the door and left it open and fell asleep as he was totally drunk. God's grace, she could escape and later was rescued. Though her physical hurts were healed, they formed scars on her whole body and heart especially for ever. She was 6 years old when she became a victim of all this.
I was blank. I couldn't say anything but hug her tight. She cried and cried but after a while she stopped. She smiled, she thanked, she said she felt very safe and relieved after so many years.
It made my day. I couldn't erase her past but at least could make her smile. You too can.
Share someone's pain and the amount of happiness we get by making someone smile is huge and remains unexplainable. Spread the love, spread the smiles! Live for the ones who need you.
Happy Living :)
#WLOO
