Want daughter to be a doctor,to take care of me

Her pregnancy was almost terminated in the seventh month,but the Nari Niketan rape victim has adapted quickly,and well,to motherhood....

Like any young mother,she dotes on her newborn daughter and hopes that the baby will grow up to become a doctor. But her journey to motherhood has been far from normal.

When she gave birth on December 3 World Disability Day Sheila (name changed),who is in her late teens and mentally challenged,had crossed hurdles she could barely understand. Not only had she been raped and impregnated at the Nari Niketan here,the Chandigarh administration had convinced the Punjab and Haryana High Court barely a month ago that Sheila was not capable of looking after an infant and that the child would be a toy to her. That Sheila had been firm in her resolve to keep her baby was barely taken into consideration when it was ordered that her baby be aborted in the seventh month of pregnancy. A Supreme Court order,however,overturned this verdict.

Today,doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) are pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Sheila has adapted to motherhood.

I am her mother. I will make sure that she grows up to be a doctor. Doctors are good human beings who alleviate the pain of others. No one has ever taken care of me. She will grow up and take care of me, she says as she burps her baby,whom she has named Pari,before putting her to sleep. When asked who taught her how to do these tasks,she replies,I took take care of an inmates baby at Nari Niketan. She was my best friend.

But Sheilas experience at Nari Niketan a centre for destitute women was nothing short of a nightmare. I dont ever want to go back, she says. It was there,as investigations and subsequent high court judgments have shown,that she was repeatedly raped by three of the staff members of the institution in connivance with two female staff members who would beat her into submission. The childs paternity will be known only after DNA tests.

I want to go back to Ashreya. That is where they take care of me, she says,referring to another government-run institute for the mentally challenged. It is Dr Raj Bahadur Director,GMCH,and in-charge of Ashreya who along with his staff has been credited for the marked improvement Sheila has shown after her ordeal.

To be honest,even I am surprised at the tremendous maternal instincts she is showing. In fact,even her mental state has improved considerably after the childs birth. Contrary to fears that she would be violent and may harm the baby,she is protective and caring and doesnt even like staff members handling her, he says.

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Even as offers of help from various NGOs,social institutions and philanthropists pour in,the UT administration has decided to take full responsibility of the child and the mother. All the expenditure of the child,mother,education,upkeep would be borne by the administration until the child completes her education and reaches adulthood, says Anupam Gupta,senior standing counsel for the UT administration in this case.

This decision follows the Supreme Courts overturning of the High Courts verdict to abort the child in the seventh month of pregnancy. The apex courts intervention had come as a result of an appeal made by amicus curiae R S Cheema. The plea that the girl is of unsound mind and a minor and hence her consent is not valid was fallacious. There is no guardian,and the government said that since we are the custodians,our decision is valid. This again was again dangerous. If the child was aborted,it would have absolved the authorities. Remember,the rape took place under their custody and any decision to abort would have set a precedent that if a rape of a minor took place in governments custody,they were free to go for termination of pregnancy, says Cheema.

Next week,the mother and child will move back to Ashreya. She is looking forward to that. She is very particular about the needs of baby and doesnt like it if we hold her for long periods, says Sonu,an attendant. As one leaves her room,Sheila says goodbye but not without a reminder to bring sweets for Pari next time.