If ever a single photograph portrays a scene of dread and sheer disgust then it has to be this one, published last week in The Daily Star in Dhaka Bangladesh. It was taken by chance by a freelance photographer who happened to be in the area on another assignment. While on his way back to his office he presumably noticed a disturbance and found these two very young girls being attacked.
The reason for the dreadful aggression was because the young children were so starving they took a little food from a nearby house. From what I can gather none of the people perpetrating this disgusting violence had anything to do with the children or indeed the owners of the property.
According to the Facebook Group Search For Shumi and Piya:
“The two young girls, named Shumi and Piya, both of approximately 5-8 years of age, were street children, who had no one to look after or protect them, and who often, resorted to begging for survival. Fatefully, the two were caught stealing half-a-loaf of bread in what was an act of desperation to survive. The two girls were hoisted onto a rickshaw and brutally beaten by a local mob”.
“Most important thing right now is to find these girls and to identify those guys and hand them over to police. At least if we can’t thank the Photographer, we should not point finger at him”.
Where is Shumi and Piya? The search is now on to find these two girls and to make sure they are safe and importantly are fed and cared for.
Wanted – These inhumane attackers:
The people in this picture and those taking part in this appalling atrocity should be found and reported to the police.
The dreadful situation in which these poor youngsters find themselves is heartbreaking. Worst of all is that this situation is a daily occurrence sadly in Bangladesh a nation that is striving to move forward on so many levels.
According to www.change.org “there’s huge wastage of food everyday from the households and the hotels. Leftovers are either taken away by people who don’t need them or thrown into the bins for urchins to pick up. Overall, it’s an affront to humanity”. “Torture, violation and trafficking seem to have developed into a norm in our country, and regretfully few offer more than a sympathetic glance towards the victims of such heinous crimes”.
The Daily Star in their editorial writes:
Beaten up for a crumb of bread
We condemn the appalling outrage
A picture published in last Saturday’s The Daily Star speaks volumes about our heavy-handed treatment to tender aged children. In particular it shows crowd’s total insensitivity to a couple of poor and hungry urchin girls alleged to have stolen food.
Whereas they should have been shown passion and the crowd feeling a sense of guilt that the society failed to provide two morsels of food to them, they behaved as if devoid of humanity.
Piya and Shumi shouldn’t be more than eight years old, or even less, and their frailty is evident of the poverty that they are caught up in with teeming millions of children. They couldn’t be habitual thieves; even if they were they hardly deserved to be treated so brutally. It seems to be a simple case of food-lifting by direly famished children.
In any case, the matter calls for some serious introspection at the societal level.
Impoverished children in our country may be forced to resort to petty thefts for survival so that the problem is struck at its root.
There’s huge wastage of food everyday from the households and the hotels. Leftovers are either taken away by people who don’t need them or thrown into the bins for urchins to pick up. It’s an affront to humanity.
We have our government, social welfare ministry, ministry for women and children affairs, children rights groups, human rights organizations and scores of voluntary bodies who work for distressed children. Sadly, whereas urchins should have been taken under the wings of shelter homes, they are falling prey to trafficking, sexual exploitation and petty crimes.
Instead of ensuring food and schooling for them we beat them up for nibbling food.
Piyas and Shumis should be taken care of because we have a collective responsibility towards them.
Updates
JAAGO Foundation is reporting:
Our choice of locations were, actually, suggestions from concerned supporters of Shumi and Piya who wish for there well-being. Our search is still on and if there is any more information that you think we can use, please, share them with us.
Many, who have been approached by our teams, were able to recognize the children and some were able to provide valuable information. According to some observers, Shumi and Piya live around the Jhigatola area of the city and they often migrate to other parts of the town to collect trash. Others have said that they are seen begging in front of the many food joints of Shatmosjid Road.
Three teams from JAAGO Foundation went in search of Shumi and Piya in several areas of Dhanmondi and Jhigatola. Although our teams were unable to locate the children today they were, however, able to find good leads to their whereabouts.
18th April 2011:
One search team from JAAGOwho had gone to the site of occurrence faced a shocking situation. The locals appeared to be fully aware of the search and were actively reluctant to share any information regarding the whereabouts of the girls. The team was aggressively and verbally assaulted, as the locals demanded an explanation as to why they were inquiring in to the occurrence. Few went so far as to deny the occurrence of any such atrocity.
Another team reported that some people are misleading the whole search and giving wrong information. A 10 year boy in Dhanmondi road 27, reported that he knows Shumi and Piya’s house. The team went to the house where there is a Shumi and a Piya but it was another family who also begs for living.
We think that we have to request/force the Police Dept. to help us to search Shumi and Piya.
