Minor Girls Paraded Naked To Please 'Rain Gods' In Rain-Parched Damoh

On September 5, little girls were stripped of their dignity and paraded naked in a remote village in rain-parched Damoh, to please the ‘rain gods'. The girls, all below 10 years of age, were made to carry a flail on their shoulders and lead a procession of village women including their mothers. The women sang bhajans to seek blessings of the gods to save crops drying in the fields. They also begged for alms, mainly food grains, which were then used to prepare food to complete the ritual. D.R. Teniwar, Superintendent of Police said,

It is a tradition here, rather a superstition. When there isn't enough water, or when it hasn't rained enough, they parade small children naked from house to house, and collect water.

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Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) took immediate cognizance of the abuse the children had been subjected to and wrote to the police demanding action against the accused. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also sought details in the case. BBA's intervention led to FIR against the accused.

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Talking to NDTV about their intervention, Salman Mansoori, State Coordinator, Bachpan Bachao Andolan said,

As soon as this incident came to the notice of Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation and BBA, we took this matter seriously. A written application was submitted to the Crime Against Women cell, Crime Research Branch, State Child Protection Commission and Police headquarters, urging them to take the matter seriously. An FIR was lodged. It is against eight people and two others have been named in it.

The accused, including two who filmed the children and circulated the clip, have been charged under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Juvenile Justice Act as well.

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