What kind of children do we raise?

I distinctly remember the case of two Mira Road residents accusing their father of rape – on reading the article then I had a feeling of revulsion as to how a father could do what he was accused of doing. This case I had discussed with friends and the general feeling was one of abhorrence at the act. The mother was also made a party to the case and was a co-accused for abetting the crime. At that time the two girls were just 15 and 12 years old. The father, Manoj Patel, spent more than a year in jail!

The girls were apparently tired of their father putting restrictions on going out in the evening with friends and the final straw came on 31st December 2007, when their father told them they could not go out for a New Year bash. That is when they decided to “teach their father a lesson”. The sad part is the case was converted from molestation to rape at the instigation of a local NGO who convinced the girls to file rape charges against their own father. It has now been proven in court that the girls had falsely filed a complaint of molestation against their father because he was strict with them and did not allow them the freedom to go out and have a blast with friends. The court acquitted the parents when it was medically proved that there was no rape and the timing suggested by the NGO along with the girls coincided with the time recorded at the Greater Grace Fellowship Center at Kurla, which showed that the entire family was present there from 9pm to midnight on December 31, 2007 – the exact time ehn the girls had claimed they were attacked!

This behavior raises several questions on parenting and the relation between parents and their children. Considering the age of the children and the area in which they were living – Mira Road, which has a lot of night life – I feel that the father was well within his rights on controlling their activities. It just takes one small mistake for a girls’ life to change completely – but in this case they ensured that it did for them as well as for their parents! Should children question their parents on behavioral norms - especially when the parents and elders have seen far more of the world than they have? One’s choice of friends is very important in this day and age – as the right friends guide you and the wrong ones take you down the path of perdition. Teens are a delicate age when hormonal changes are happening in a girl which can cloud the mind into doing things which should not be done.

What was the role of the local NGO – why did they interfere and ruin the life of a family without trying to get to the truth? Were they in it for cheap publicity so that they could gather funds? The courts should ask the police to verify the antecedents of the NGO – and get the person responsible in asking the girls to file a false rape case convicted. The human rights of the parents have been grossly violated – their dignity has been ravaged and their place in society has been blackened forever – especially as they live in India -because of the way we think!

The father has forgiven the daughters for they did something without realizing the implication of their acts. The father now lives in seclusion – though he speaks to his daughters every day. The daughters will have to live with the guilt of their actions for the rest of their lives – a very heavy burden indeed. But what about the NGO – should the NGO not be shut down and action taken against the instigators of the rape complaint. Will the Human Rights watch wake up and take action – or is this too trivial a case for the Human Right watch as no famous person or politician has got tagged on to it?