Mumbai: Family to stop raped teen’s school education

Mumbai: The parents of a 13-year-old rape survivor from Vasai village, who delivered a baby recently, have decided to stop her from going to school or venturing out of the house, fearing social stigma, thus hampering her dreams of becoming a school teacher.

The girl delivered the baby, who has already been adopted by someone, at Nair Hospital recently, while the girl was discharged from the hospital on Friday.

While talking to The Asian Age, the girl said, “I want to become a teacher. Now, I am not supposed to talk with anyone and I am not going to school.” She added, “I just came back from the hospital so I’m resting. My parents are supportive and taking good care of me.”

Stating that people were taunting his sister for no reason, the survivor’s brother told The Asian Age, “We stay in an interior part of the state. Here, society does not have an open mind, so how do we send her out? Already people in our vicinity have started speaking ill about her. We also want my sister to pursue her education, but we fear people will harass her in school. My sister didn’t even know what had happened to her.” According to a source, the survivor was allegedly raped multiple times last May by 72-year-old Martin Lopez, a Vasai resident, who fled the country in October 2015 on suspicions that her family would report the crime to the police.

The survivor’s mother worked at Lopez’s house. The survivor was unconscious the first time she was raped as Lopez had allegedly spiked her drink.

He later raped her repeatedly while issuing threats that he would harm her family if she resisted, according to the police.       

By the time her family realised she was expecting, it was too late to terminate the pregnancy, as it could have endangered the girl’s life.

The rape case is being probed by the Waliv police, which suspect Lopez, a retired bank official, fled to the USA.

The survivor told The Asian Age, “Lopez would send his wife out on some pretext or the other and then forced himself on me.”

“Tomorrow is the court date and we are finding it difficult to get justice, as Lopez is absconding,” said the survivor’s brother.