It was Charran ‘Sanjay’ Sahadeo’s battered face with eyes swollen shut that first gripped the attention when it appeared on the front page of this newspaper on February 1 this year, followed by the news that this horror had been perpetrated on the three-year-old boy allegedly by his stepfather, supposedly in the presence of his mother and that he had subsequently been evicted from his home. However, by the time Sanjay could open his eyes three days later, his aunt, who had originally made the allegation against his mother and stepfather was in police custody.
It turned out that the woman who had supplied the details about the child’s abuse, including that pepper sauce had been thrown in Sanjay’s eyes had lied about the issue. Sanjay, who will be four years old next Tuesday, had been threatened to lie also to protect the couple who allegedly abused him, and as was later revealed there were other issues in relation to the treatment of their own children in their history.
Sanjay, along with some of the couple’s children, was placed in the care of the state and the process to ensure his and their future wellbeing, which includes counselling for their respective parents, began in earnest.
The extreme physical abuse Sanjay received, which necessitated his hospitalization, reportedly occurred on January 20. It was brought to the public’s attention on February 1, as a consequence of which Sanjay was saved from exposure to further possible abusive situations. Had he not been rescued, he may, like others before him, have run away from home to live on the streets where other dangers await children like him. Sanjay’s torment and his grooming towards becoming an abuser himself have been halted. One hopes that just as his physical scars have been treated, he will also have therapy for the mental trauma he has so far sustained.
Just prior to Sanjay’s case being made public, this newspaper reported in November last year about an eight-year-old boy who had been physically, mentally and emotionally abused for quite a while before his situation was arrested. This child of Shieldstown, West Bank Berbice, who had constantly run away from home to escape the abuse, had endured severe beatings, being chained up for hours and starved. Someone was eventually charged with abusing the child after reports were made.
On any given day, there are countless children in all parts of this country who are enduring one form of abuse or another. Some of it is hidden, particularly cases of sexual abuse. But a great deal of the wrongs perpetrated against children, including physical and verbal abuse, denial of the right to an education, being forced to work as labourers or vendors (part time or full time) and being deliberately starved as punishment for perceived wrongdoings is done in plain sight.
Unfortunately, children’s rights are still not universally observed and depend on the individual’s or family’s exposure to education on the issue. Even more unfortunate is the fact that action or lack of it, when children’s rights are infringed remains contingent on too many factors, including where the child resides and which of his or her rights are denied. Despite the strides being made daily in protecting children, there is still no network in place that sees the necessary quick action in many of these cases. In addition, too many of the laws remain archaic. As Vidyaratha Kissoon of Help and Shelter pointed out in a letter to the editor this week, some children who run away from abuse, when found are charged with wandering and sent to a correctional institution – a double whammy for them – instead of being counselled and given the love and care they so obviously need. Kissoon said we should be ashamed and he is right. The battered face of little Sanjay was that of a potential ‘wanderer.’ We are all aware that there are endless others whose scars do not show. Those in authority need to look deeper at the reason children wander and to treat each case with the individual attention it deserves.
