Hapless kid has many visitors

GURGAON: The four-and-a-half-year-old rape victim has had plenty of visitors who have offered her toys and blessings for a quick recovery following media reports about the girl's plight.
The visitors include not just Gurgaoniites but also expats. One such case is of a Swedish woman who has approached the hospital to meet and spend time with the child.
"In Europe, one is encouraged to report rapes and support victims. The law there is more sensitized about such crimes and a victim is also dealt with emotionally. There are separate lounges made for interviewing victims of such crimes by women officers only. The victim is never interviewed in a police station and can record her statement in court so that she does not have to face the criminal. However, it is sad that such crimes are looked upon as taboo in the Indian society," said Chanan Maria Kaur, who lives in Garden Estate in the city.
"I read about the incident in the media and felt I should reach out. By not reporting about such crimes, the offender goes scot-free and is likely to repeat the crime. One child abuse is one too many. By hushing up news about a rape, we are only becoming a party to such crimes ourselves," she explains, adding that such things become an epidemic and lose the "shock value" for society, which in turn takes it for granted and is desensitized.
Meanwhile, the hospital staff have stepped up security to protect the child from any untoward incident.
"Since the culprit is yet to be arrested, we thought it was in the best interest of the rape victim that we regulate the visitors," an Artemis employee said.