JUSTICE FOR SARAH (5 YEARS OLD)

We, the undersigned, bring to the notice of the Government of Mizoram, India to take a stern action immediately.

The poor little girl live with her family in a rented house in Aizawl, capital city of Mizoram. On the fateful day of 9th September 2011, when she returned from the pre- school called "Anganwadi", and was singing a nursery rhymes she had learnt that very day. On hearing her sing, their landlord,who apparently must have a short temper, argued with the little child, and assaulting her.

Imagine an adult venting his anger out on an innocent five years old, twisting and hanging her in mid air by the ears, all the while targeting only the area of her fragile head. The damage done is unimaginable. This incident left her paralyzed neck down and currently treated for epidural hematoma; a type of traumatic brain injury.

Being a tenant, Sarah's family could not make any complaint against their landlord at the beginning. So they moved out and took shelter with the Salvation Army.

A case was filed later and then handed over to a society called Child Welfare Committee. In turn, the committee also filed a case to the police, who then the promptly registered the case. However, the case could not proceed due to certain legal procedures as it has to go through Government officials.

In frustration, the Child Welfare Committee tried to settle the case in a court and fined the accused an amount of 1 lakh (about 1850 USD)as a compensation. The accused refused to pay and instead offered to pay off an amount of Rs 20,000 (370 USD) to the family without the consent of the Child Welfare Committee; which the family did not accept. This enraged the accused's representative so much that they threatened the family with dire consequences. However, a small group of citizens, willing to help the poor family stood by their side, and started contributing what ever they can for Sarah's treatment and her daily needs.

The situation worsened, when the poor girl’s father died during his sleep in April 2012. As the sole earning member of the family gone, the poor paralyzed girl with traumatic brain injury may or may not survived for long. But justice is needed to be carried out.

We, as the citizens of India and as the citizen of the world can give our petition to the Court of Justice for the government of take action.

As India is well known for child abuse, we need to eradicate this attitude that kids are born slave and have no rights. Such high-handedness must to stop right now!