Fritzls of India- Incest shadows

Shocking is too mild a word to explain the anguish and pain i feel right now, reading a news article on incest. Talking about such relationships is always a taboo, but that doesn't hide the fact that it never happens. In India, we refrain from expressing our own feelings and incidents like these to our own kith and kin. News like this never comes out, it is snuffed out and subdued into words like ' family honour' and ' family name'. The dark shadows lurches around, waiting to take on our children too. Father-in-law's sexual relationship with his daughter-in-law, two minor girls ( aged 12 and 14) killed by uncles and grandmother as their affair with cousin brother was exposed, father sleeping with daughter forcibly and mother turning a blind eye to it....Read the full story here. Such cases are extremely under reported in India, disbelief, denial and cover up to safeguard the family reputation shadows the rampant abuse. The close-knit family system of India is another major contributor effective in masking the problem, families choose to shun these troubles as internal family affairs rather than reporting and punishing the offenders. Marriages between cousins and uncles and nieces is very common even today in South India.

Is this phenomena new to India? Certainly not. It has been there for ages, we simply refuse to look into. Delhi organisation RAHI's survey shows 76% of respondents were abused when they were children, 40% of it, by family members. Of this, 42% by uncle, 42% by male cousin, 4% father, 4% brother and 8% other members. We lack a social support system for the victims too. Even after effective counselling, where will the victims be put up, to who's care do they turn to, if not the families? The NGOs offering support are over-flowing already and rehabilitation of these abused victims is simply not possible. The chance that almost half of India's girl children have experienced or will experience sexual abuse is very high, states BBC News.

The worst part is, our Indian Laws DO NOT offer JUSTICE to these victims of incest. Incest is not a punishable offense in Indian Law, unless the child is a minor which is taken as a case of child sex abuse. Whereas, in other countries like Australia, Ireland, Finland, UK, Germany have made incest illegal and punishable. Napolean abolished incest laws in France and Belgium 200 years ago and it is legal there now. FRITZL was the first case of incest that shook Europe, in 2009, Austrian Fritzl was handed life sentence for locking his own daughter in dungeon for 24 years and fathering 7 children with her. Detlef.S. is making headlines in Germany now, for his infamous incest. He is charged with 350 counts of sexual abuse of minors in his care from 1987 to 2010. He admitted to fathering atleast 7 children with his step daughter. He has been charged with abusing daughter ( from age 9), step daughter and step son for 20 years ( right from their age 4) and forcing both girls in his custody to prostitution. Detlef has been called German Fritzl, after the infamous Austrian.

Joe Fritzl- fathered 7 children with daughter Elisabeth Fritzl,who was locked up for 24 years.

What we need are revamp of legal system pertaining to punishments for incest, social support system for the victims who cannot go back to their families after legal measures and more media light on this issue. Above all, let us not ignore our children. Listening to their whispers, insight into their childhood world and comforting them when they need us most is what we have to do personally. As parents, we have the responsibility to nurture our young and if we fail in that primary duty, our material wealth and social accomplishments are futile.