Abused Childhood

Shazia, 25, was in Class 10 when her father died in a road accident. She was her father’s daughter and used to sleep with her parents. Soon after the tragic accident, Shazia’s mother married her brother-in-law as per the wishes of her family. The marriage was solemnized in the same year and it became a turning point in Shazia’s life.

As the days passed, Shazia’s health deteriorated. She stayed aloof from her parents and was silent all the time. Her parents were worried and they consulted a doctor who advised them to take her to a psychiatrist who made a shocking disclosure about the problems Shazia was facing and what was eating her up internally. “I was 16 when my father died. Since I had a habit of sleeping with my mother and father, I continued this habit after my father’s death. Once I became mature, I realized I was being abused by my stepfather in the nights.”

“He raped me for six long years. My mother was witness to everything” says Shazia in a corridor of Government Psychiatric Hospital in Srinagar, J&K’s summer capital, where she had come for a routine checkup. “When I shared my ordeal with my mother, she asked me not to reveal it to anyone” she says. Her mother’s insistence pushed Shazia further towards isolation. She now lives with her grandparents. “My mother told me she was afraid of people, that what they would think if they come to know about it. When your mother doesn’t support you in such times, how can one expect any relative or a friend to be a well-wisher?”

“I still wake up at least once in the night to ensure that nobody is sleeping on my side. I prefer to sleep alone. If anything touches my skin during sleep, I feel threatened and shout like a maniac,” she says. more