There was an unfortunate incident on our Puri yatra yesterday. A mother and her 13 year old daughter were leaving there room at the guest house we were staying at. The mother had gone ahead and left the daughter to lock the room. Suddenly one of the hotel attendents showed up and seeing the young girl alone, he started touching her in various private places.
The girl was terrified and began screaming. Her mother came running, and then began a big drama. Our yatra leader was considering calling the police. After some contemplation he decided not to for the following reasons: a. He and the group were from UP, the "suspect" was a local person with a government job (sometimes you can get yourself into trouble by accusing someone when you are in a distant place); and b. He realized that they would require the young girl to fill out a form describing everything that happened and then would question her. By this time the mother and some senior ladies had been sitting down and counseling the little girl who was crying and very distraught.
The leading devotees went to complain to the hotel management. After waiting for several hours without seeing anyone, a doctor who worked for the hotel happened along. Seeing their faces he asked them what was wrong. After hearing the devotees explanation, he charged into the office and started shouting at the manager.
Finally something started happening.
They brought the guilty party downstairs and the management started heavily shouting at him. After a few minutes the doctor told the devotees, "Don't worry. We will teach him a lesson." They then took the young man into another room and closed the door, where they began giving him some heavy purification — local Orissan style.
I felt very sorry for the poor girl. Fortunately, she seems to be doing okay.
The culprit on the other hand got a heavy beating. The following morning the management gave a written letter to the devotees stating that the boy was fired from his job and blacklisted with that company. They also promised that he would never again be able to get a government job. I have mixed feelings about the boy. On one hand I'm frankly delighted that he got a beating. Hopefully it will be a turning point in his consciousness. There are far too many young men in India who have the idea that it is fun to molest ladies.
On the other hand I feel sorry for him. I suspect that like many other men his age he is a victim of the pornography culture, which directly and indirectly glorifies rape and molestation. It was a good thing the mother came when she did or something much worse may have happened. I walked away with a heavy heart today, feeling sorry for both the little girl and the foolish boy. The world needs more Krishna consciousness. I don't see any other remedy. **************
The girl was terrified and began screaming. Her mother came running, and then began a big drama. Our yatra leader was considering calling the police. After some contemplation he decided not to for the following reasons: a. He and the group were from UP, the "suspect" was a local person with a government job (sometimes you can get yourself into trouble by accusing someone when you are in a distant place); and b. He realized that they would require the young girl to fill out a form describing everything that happened and then would question her. By this time the mother and some senior ladies had been sitting down and counseling the little girl who was crying and very distraught.
The leading devotees went to complain to the hotel management. After waiting for several hours without seeing anyone, a doctor who worked for the hotel happened along. Seeing their faces he asked them what was wrong. After hearing the devotees explanation, he charged into the office and started shouting at the manager.
Finally something started happening.
They brought the guilty party downstairs and the management started heavily shouting at him. After a few minutes the doctor told the devotees, "Don't worry. We will teach him a lesson." They then took the young man into another room and closed the door, where they began giving him some heavy purification — local Orissan style.
I felt very sorry for the poor girl. Fortunately, she seems to be doing okay.
The culprit on the other hand got a heavy beating. The following morning the management gave a written letter to the devotees stating that the boy was fired from his job and blacklisted with that company. They also promised that he would never again be able to get a government job. I have mixed feelings about the boy. On one hand I'm frankly delighted that he got a beating. Hopefully it will be a turning point in his consciousness. There are far too many young men in India who have the idea that it is fun to molest ladies.
On the other hand I feel sorry for him. I suspect that like many other men his age he is a victim of the pornography culture, which directly and indirectly glorifies rape and molestation. It was a good thing the mother came when she did or something much worse may have happened. I walked away with a heavy heart today, feeling sorry for both the little girl and the foolish boy. The world needs more Krishna consciousness. I don't see any other remedy. **************
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