A mother’s letter from Noida

I was told that they found my daughter’s body. Not the whole body, just the legs, arms and severed head. The agony now ends. For a year I have been begging the police to help find her. They would humiliate us, and sneer. ” She must have run away with a boy” they laughed.
My daughter was 9 years old when she went missing….


I am told that her body was cut up surgically. I pray that she felt no pain. I pray that whoever took her away from us, had atleast taekn such innocent lives with some compassion.
But I can’t help imagining her screams as they took the knife to her. May God forgive them, but I do not have any forgiveness left in me.
I am told they took her kidneys. I want to meet the child that has her kidneys. I want to bless her. It’s not that child’s fault. But I want to meet the doctors, the hospitals, the airlines that carried my child’s kidneys and ask them :
“Did u think once about the innocent life you took so callously ?” I want to ask the policemen that helped them. ” Does a life mean nothing to you just because we are poor ?”
Now every politician comes to our village. I say to them “Come to our village only if you can bring our children back. Otherwise you have come too late. Leave us to our grief and our fate. As you have done so ever since I can remember. And will continue to do so till we die. Nothing will change”.
“We are told we are Indian. We are not. You all are Indians. We are the forgotten people. We do not want to be Indians. It was Indians who took our children. We do not want to be part of you”.
shekhar
Shekhar

21 thoughts on “A mother’s letter from Noida

  1. “We are told we are Indian. We are not. You all are Indians. We are the forgotten people. We do not want to be Indians. It was Indians who took our children. We do not want to be part of you”.
    Very true. Incidents like these are a matter of shame for every Indian. Whether it is a minor being gangraped in a local train or a woman being paraded naked in front of the Gateway of India or a politician’s son getting away with murder (Nitish Katara/Jessica Lal), India is no longer the India that Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of. A stray movie like Rang De Basanti can only prompt us to look at the faults within the system, but can we really change it? Perhaps not. Probably the truth is that India can never change, the mindset of the people who matter–the police will not change. The stark reality is that only money talks. If you have the dough and the necessary contacts, you can get away with murder, kidnapping, anything…if not, you’ll have to keep visiting the courts for years in the hope of getting justice, like these poverty-stricken souls will probably have to. And even if your case file has spent years languishing in a moth-eaten pile of other case files for years, you are still not guaranteed justice. Sad Scenario indeed

  2. The Noida incident has once again put that ugly side of India into spotlight which we are desperately trying to hide from the international observers.
    Amidst all the talk of Modern India and “quality” manpower, we still have a system which lacks the very basic human sensibilities.
    One cant help but feel numb when you realise that the so called policemen, by doing their bare minimum duty could have saved so many lives.

  3. dude…
    horrible! we are monsters! not only Indians…the whole humanity is a bunch of monsters!
    so, what can we do?…be on this side…be on that side…its all futile. it hardly matters where you are…all that matters is whether you have understood the simple game that there is nothing to understand.
    take care…kedar…

  4. Is being poor being “children of a lesser God”? I can’t imagine how these policemen sleep at night knowing that they have material possessions bought by blood colored money of the youth/future of India. It could have been their child.
    The story of Valmiki comes to mind where he robs people to feed his family and when he asks them who will partake in the punishment of his sins, they all back off. Who are these policemen doing all this for?

  5. Why should the innocent children have such a horrible death? Is it destiny? fate? Gods own mysterious devices ….
    These kind of incidents makes you to cast serious doubts on the commonly understood moralities of the society like “you reap what you sow”
    What on earth did the children sow to be reaped like this.

  6. Could you/someone please point me to when this happened. I read samachar but looks like missed this one.
    My sincere prayers to the family. One of the worst tragedy a parent can face !

  7. Shekhar,
    EGO, NOTES TO MY DAUGHTER and few others…Kai bar pade…comment karna asaan nahin tha. Isliye nahin kiya.
    Maine hamesha apki films se relate kiya hai, aap hamesha complicated cheezon ko simple kar ke dikhate hain,
    Apki site ko padne ke baad laga ki aap SIMPLE cheezon ko COMPLICATE kar rahe hain.
    Ye meri soch hai, galat bhi ho sakti hai.
    May be you are going through a phase…spritiual or… ?
    Prashan yeh uthta hai ki, kya main aur meri generation ( 39 ) age bhi apki films ko relate kar payegi?
    Specialy PAANI…

  8. Ramesh, Just outside Delhi is an Industrial township called Noida, which falls in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Children, mostly of the poor Bihari immigrants have been reported missing for quite a while now. But the cpos were totally callous and most times even refused to file what’s called an FIR, wihtout which a report is not officialy put on the records.
    Recently some people found mass graves in which arms,legs and heads about 20 of those children were discovered. But the torso’were missing.
    A prominent bussinesman with political connections and his servant have been arrested and chrged with luring children and young women and murdering them. They have admitted to sexual acts and even to cannibalism of the body parts. But people are not buying that. Most believe that this was part of a ruthless Organ trade. Especially given the way the torso’s were surgically cut.
    Of course since the kids and young women belonged mostly to Bihari immigrants that would have come as construction labour, and lived mostly in the surrounding slums, it was assumed that no one would really care.
    If this was, as is generally suspected, an organ trade, then there will have to be complicity with doctors, hospitals, transporters, customs etc down the line. It will open a whole pandora’s box, that the goverment is trying desperately to play down.
    Now in one suburb of Mumbai people have panicked, and the news is that 43 children are missing. In Agra people have taken to the streets as about 50 children are reported missing and the police have done nothing about it.
    I am sure many other bloggers will have more information than I will, so feel free to add,
    shekhar

  9. Thanks a lot Shekhar… since i posted my question, i have been updating my self on this as well. What an ugly face of humankind. This is exploitation at its worst.
    I hope the people see through the blatant attempt to use cannibalism and sexual assaults as a coverup…
    I hope, God willing, at some point in my life i can contribute towards educating the unfortunate.

  10. What a horrible crime! *shudder*
    Oprah Winfrey recently built a school for girls in South Africa. We need thousands of such schools all over the world so poor childern could be safe and happy as they should be. We have a long, long way to go.

  11. Dear Shekhar,
    I just switched off the TV after an hour watching Oprah on CNN (US) talk about her school in South Africa. It was one of the most beautiful hours of my life, because it taught me after a very long time, what giving really is. The segment spanned the lives of children, looking after their siblings after losing their parents to AIDS.
    What was more heart wrenching was that the school is one I would be proud to send my own son to. It was not covering the basics. It was not a charity school. It was an all out international campus for girls with the best of amenities and the best of education.
    She said something very beautiful: “These girls come from deprived circumstances. But deeprived circumstances can occur anywhere in the world. Their situations are bad, but there are bad situations everywhere. The land around them is beautiful. Their country is beautiful. They just need the opportunity, and I want them to know that wherever they come from, their circumstances can be changed with the right opportunity.”
    Many people, including the government of south africa, criticised her for setting up an institute that was ‘too nice’ for the girls from tin sheds.
    It reminded me of a poem by Gibran:
    And is there aught you would withhold?
    All you have shall some day be given;
    Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.
    You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
    The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
    They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
    Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.
    And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
    And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
    And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
    See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
    Also I want to talk to you about the SMS I sent around this morning. A media mogul got in touch to say he would attempt to sponsor efforts like that in India if I could get a movement going. I have no clue how to do this. So either on my blog or my email id can we pls chat about this? Need your guidance.

  12. Sure, Nikita. I am in touch with other blogs, to see if we can make a cordinated effort to bring every ones attention to the caring of children in India, but do see my next blog on this issue,
    shekhar

  13. Absolutely shameful.
    There are two Indias. One for the rich & powerful and the other one for the not so lucky. India has an alter ego, a split personality….an underbelly which is so ugly that no one wants to believe it even exists. I don’t think human life is as cheap in any other country of the world, as it is in India.
    Then we are bombarded with media campaigns titled, “India Shining” and “India Poised”. I’m reminded of a few lines from the recently shot spot of Amitabh Bachchan on the under-construction Bandra-Worli bridge, for the Times group…….There is one India which says, “Give us a chance and we’ll prove ourselves.” And there is another India which says, “first prove yourself and then we’ll give you a chance”.
    Love,
    Navin

  14. Long time Shekhar!
    How just awful these Nithari killings have been! I shudder at the thought that a human can eat another ..its is horrible and as it is authorities never care..imagine the mother of 9 year being given such a silly reason!
    In BTW when I wrote my last entry- where have all debonoir men vanished, it was you & Prannoy Roy in mind! Dont knw but I m still stuck on those Raymonds complete man ads..*sheepish grin*
    take care & have been reading regular updates in newspapers abt u, ur life & of course, ur work & latest on new year on blogging as coming of age.
    cheers
    Nidhi

  15. Ever since I read about the news of Noida killings, I have become so disturbed, that I can hardly sleep. I wonder, when these horrifying killings, have left me broken into pieces…how the mothers who have lost their babies long back and now come to know how their kids have gone in the cruel hands of these daemons. I guess we should not even call them bad humans. The human terminology holds no where for them. It is utter shame and annoying, that when people indulge in such acts, why do they not think.. that something like this could one days happen to their own people one day.
    I never thought 21st century would not only create hollow men, but fill these hollowness with the worst aspects of human existence, where evey moment people are alive, they should thank such terrifying elements for their lives. I dont think even God is around…or else the Noida killings could not have been happening uninterrupted for soooo long. Shame on us….all of us. for we are so sophasticated, that we all cant rise together and fight against such evil elements around. What we are going to leave behind for our progeny…

  16. The act was gruesome and totally atrocious! I have no words to fill in because whenever I think of it I can’t help but think of the agonized children.If you rape a child, you rob her off her innocence, her soul, her brain, her senses, her trust and most important of all her childhood.
    Being a woman, I know how it feels like to be in a state where the fear of being raped and killed haunts you. Almost every woman I know has gone through this in some point of her life and I know how it shudders you. I can simply wonder what it must be for that innocent being. I cant imagine the twinkling eyes gasped in a state full of horror and fear. Its sickening!
    I have been extremely close and sensitive to this issue of child abuse. It happens all around us but there is always a deaf ear and a blind eye available in our society! It happens within families by fathers, grandfathers, uncles but its the fear of stigma that shuts the mouths. The worst part is, if the child remains alive after an abuse and not counselled, the act can be very much recurred! Who do we blame then, the victim or the victor?
    A couple of years back I read Pinky Virani’s Bitter Chocoalte, a book on child abuse. I shouldn’t have as molestation, specially of a child, numbs me. The statistics were horrifying, the incidents were beyond shock and the law and order of our country for child abuse is apalling. Did you know that a wounded child, testified in the court, has to repeat the incident/s in front of the whole courtroom in the presence of his victor right in front of her? Also, our law doesn’t consider a thing inserted in a child as rape! Lately, On CNN IBN website, I read an article stating that a remand home for children in Delhi was becoming a hub for child abuse. There may be hundreds of such places but who cared for the less fortunate ones?
    Shekhar, can’t you or anyone, as a celebrity, endorse the cause? I think this is the most hidden and heinous cause in our society.

  17. Nikita, if u take the lead I will put everything I can behind it. I am trying to get an association of Indian bloggers together so we can all raise our voive together on issues such as what happened in Noida – and what is happening now in Goa. Shekhar

  18. The first thing that needs to change are the laws of the land! We need very very strict penal action and fast against those who commit such heinous crimes. The problem is that by the time the law takes it course the entire episode is out of mind. If our justice system was equivalent to that of US, our administration would have to pull up their socks and get working. We would be able to file a suit for every bad road in India, or embezzlement of public funds. I shudder to think of letting my innocent son of 3 years out of sight! I remember when I had to travel to Goa by train; I spent the entire night awake just to make sure that my son was by my side. Imagine the plight of parents all over India. We spend every moment wondering if our child has gotten back from school etc safely. We can’t trust the police anymore! It doesn’t take much to bribe anyone, people are ready to sell themselves for anything! And we say the country’s booming – at what cost!

  19. Shekhar, I really want to do something to help,to expose these cruel people. But how will an association of Indian Bloggers help this cause. If you are talking about awareness, the media has done that (with 24 hr news channels). I feel very helpless at these times, but would love to work towards exposing the people involved. A lot of issues in India are very disturbing. Like the Shiv sena dictatorship growing by the day. Do you think blogging will help change things.
    Sincerely,
    Dipti

  20. hello, my daughter deaf, please give about addressful in school deaf by noida for me, please urgent reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.