Daily Our Time is presenting below two case studies of sexual abuse of two boys, one of nine years and another of fourteen years. The first incident demands raising awareness among parents and the second incident happened in fear of losing job.
(Intro)
Case Study: Rural Boy Tareque
Age When Abused: 9 years
Background: Tareque comes from middle class rural family. He studies in class III of the madrasa, an Islamic seminary. The Huzoor (Moulvi/teacher) of the madrasa, Rafiqul (47) used to like Tareque very much and would get him to run errands for him. When the madrasa closes down for a day, the Huzoor calls Tareqe to his office. They then go out.
Personal experience: Once the madrasa became empty, the Huzoor took Tareque back to madrasa and went to his office. He leaned back on his chair and asked Tareque to massage his body. Tareque, naturally would do as he was bidden by the Huzoor who would add that if he looked after the comforts of a Huzoor, divine blessings would shower upon him. One day while massaging him, the Huzoor placed Tareque’s hands on his genitalia. Tareque felt embarrassed and withdrew his hand. The Huzoor pulled back Tareque’s hand and once again placed them on his genitals urging him not to be embarrassed but massage it instead. “Don’t be shy, you carry on with your work. “The Huzoor after some time told Tareque to go home but warned him “Do not tell anyone that you massage me. If you do it will be a grave sin”.
This convenient arrangement of the Huzoor went on or month. People came to know of Tareque’s service to the teacher but they did not disapprove since Tareque was extremely young and the Huzoor was very affectionate in paternal manner towards the young boy.
But one day, the Madrasa Head, came to the madarasa after closure time. He saw Rafiqul, the Huzoor, learning back and apparently sleeping with Tareque fondling Rafiqul’s genitals. The Madrasa Head called Tareque outside and told him “you have become such a bad boy. I will have you thrown out of the madrasa. Tareque was scared and flustered and confessed that whatever he had been doing were on the orders of the Huzoor. Tareque was then sent home by the Madrasa Head, who then woke up the sleeping Huzoor. The Madrasa head bluntly told the Huzoor to end what he had been doing with the young boy. The Huzoor kept quiet and didn’t answer in defence.
Initially Tareque would be embarrassed to massage the Huzoor. The Huzoor allayed this embarrassment and fear by saying. “you must listen to what your father and mother and also obey your Huzoor’s orders. If you do so, you will prosper in life. Whatever the Huzoor tells you, it must be observed to the letter. By this sermon the Huzoor ensured that Tareque would do whatever he would he bidden to do. The Madrasa Heads intervention ended the abuse and Tareque did not encounter any such situations.
He was also influenced by his parents words who had said that he should listen to everything his teachers ask him. “If you don’t we will beat you.” Obviously the boy was following instructions.
Observations: Two days were needed to get the full story of Tareque. The Madrasa Head also corroborated the story. It seems that Tareque’s desire to follow to the letter the instructions of his parents and his Huzoor, led to the situation. Although Tareque is shaken up he did talk after finding out that the investigator knew the story. He is a very young boy and supply of candy also helped.
Case Study : Rural Boy Kajol
Age When Abused. 14 Years
Background: In Kajol’s village most of the people are involved in farming. There is a government primary school in the village. The poverty of Kajol’s family prevented any of his siblings to attend school. The same reason has pushed his father to arrange a job for him in a farm. Kajol’s employer is an IRRI (high yielding variety rice) rice cultivator and as such has a machine pump which is located in a pump house in the middle of the field. After a whole day’s work, Kajol sleeps in the pump house or machine-house (as it is known in the village). During the peak season, the pump has to run at night also.
Personal experience: One night around 9 PM, Moslem (35) came to the machine house and started chatting with Kajol. The small talk went on with Moslem asking him how much Sadek (the employer) paid him, whether Sadek’s wife would give him regular meals etc. After some time, Sadek came around and he told Kajol to start the machine and water the crops. As Kajol got busy Moslem left the place.
But the next day around 9:30 p.m. Moslem came and found Kajol asleep. He woke Kajol up and asked him for a Biri (local cigarette). Kajol lit a Biri and gave it to Moslem. In order to shake off Kajol’s sleepiness, Moslem carried on smoking and started talking. Kajol also lit a Biri for himself. Moslem started talking about movies, blue-films, pornography etc. During the chatting session Moslem surreptitiously started massaging Kajol’s arms and legs. Both began to feel quite relaxed with the message. Soon afterwards Kajol felt Moslem play with his genitalia. He felt uneasy and protesting asked “What are you doing?”
Kajol also removed Moslem’s hand but Moslem soothingly said “You will like it very much and after you like it once, you will want to do it often. Moslem promised to Kajol that he would take him to town to watch pornographic films. Moslem suddenly tugged at Kajol’s lungi and soon enough they were engaged in physical sex. After the act was over, they washed themselves and Kajol made no reply to Moslem’s question “How was it?” He smiled in reply instead. This has been going on for quite some time and Kajol apparently had shed all inhibitions about having sex with Kajol.
The IRRI project had ended and the pump is not required to be operated at night. Kajol has also stopped sleeping in the pump house. The pump house, being in a desolate area, was an ideal meeting place. Another place could not be found like that but they have met a couple of times in the field. Moslem has developed a strong liking for Kajol and once in a while gives him money.
After the initial embarrassment, Kajol has quite enjoyed his relationship with Moslem. His only fear is that his employer Sadek might find out and may sack him for his sexual relationship.
Observations: Kajol is an introvert and the investigator needed 4 days to find out about the incident. From his statements it’s clear that he is still having sexual relations with Moslem. Kajol insisted that his secret be kept, otherwise he might lose his job. I feel that Kajol quite likes his relationship with Moslem and he shall continue it. Moslem being an influential man in the area has given Kajal the shelter to carry on.
From the Case Study Based Report, “NON-COMMERCIAL SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH” by Breaking The Silence Group, dated 30 March 1997