Abuse

Namaste all,
I had two incidents with children, on back to back evenings, and thought i will share it with you.

1. This saturday evening, after class, at around 7 pm i was walking to my parked car. Even as i was nearing the car, i heard some heavy shouting from a chinese middle aged man. He was standing behind a car, so  i could see him only from hips upward. I first thought he perhaps had a bad day, and was simply blowing his lid off to cool himself. After mentally projecting some maitri exhalations towards him, i got into my car. But then, something bothered me, and i got out, and walked to the other side of the parked array of cars. To my horror i discovered that a very small boy was the object of his abuse. I felt very bad for the boy, but then after a while i again got back to the car, and then found  myself turning off the car and walking back to the scene. Then to my shock i saw him swing his arm very hard at the boy’s left outer thigh. the boy immediately buckled and fell, his face contorted in pain and fear. the man again went to kick him, but by that time i got in there and told him to leave the child alone. He abused me in chinese, which i didnt mind. Then he picked a stone from the roadside and again swung his arm with it towards the childs head, and again i put myself between the kid and him. The man threw the stone to the drain, screamed and then walked across the road to the field. i then tried talking to the kid who was still lying sprawled on the road. he couldnt understand me, and as i tried to lift him, i sensed his body was violently shivering. i told him not to worry, but he resisted me from lifting him to a standing position. Then suddenly i saw the guy walking back from the field brandishing a very long wooden beam. I again stood covering the child. At that point i was kind of expecting him to loose his sense completely and swing the beam at me. Then  i saw three of our students walking by, and i called them. i just wanted them to talk to this guy in chinese, that we will report to police, and that the child has suffered enough etc. But instead of being my charlie’s angels, they chose to pacify me by saying that the kid is his son, and hence he has all the rights to do anything he wants.
Then this guy suddenly dragged this child and just started walking away from me and into the field, still carrying that long wooden beam. At that point i just didnt know what to do. Then i was jolted by a honking. All this time i was  perhaps occupying one car parking place, and as soon as this guy walked off, other cars started honking at me, for me to move so that they can park. Till then they were just silently watching the drama.
I drove along the side of the field, keeping the guy with the stick and the limping child in view, but then they vanished. I had a very sick feeling, as i was sure the guy will beat the boy very badly.
Now is there anything we can do in such situations, like any number to call etc, to report a child battering.

2. The very next night (sunday) i was dozing off at around 11.15 in the night. Sandhya was not yet back from a dance show, so i was partially alert. Then i started hearing a faint sound which resembled a child crying. I first wondered whether i was replaying the previous day’s occurances, and the boy’s helpless sobbings. But then i realized it was not. Soon i got out of my unit and went walking to find out where the cries were coming  from. and soon i was at the entrance of another unit, where i sensed a child was crying from right behind the entrance door. i slowly took the door knob and turned it.it opened and right there was another very small boy crying with a pillow in hand. But upon seeing me, the colour of his face vanished faster than how my students vanish from my wednesday meditation class.  He then just shrieked and slammed the door. I then looked at myself and much to my chagrin discovered that i was not wearing any shirt and had only an indian saffron. To the little child, as i stepped into his house, perhaps i must have evoked images of  some horrible goey monster who would eat people, swallow homes and spit out neighbors.
I ran back and put on a manasa t shirt, took one of sidharths toy, and bounded right back to the childs unit. But this time i saw the child outside, and he walked towards me crying and i carried him. he told me amidst soul- wracking sobs ‘no papa.. and no mama..’ i took him home and woke up my maid and asked her to take the child. But then, upon seeing the child she shivered and stood aghast,  cheeks turning  blanch and eyes glassy. Some choked sounds escaped her throat, and then finally managed to say ‘Shivani’. The poor lady thought that some bizzare transformation occured to shivani in the middle of the night and that she became chinese. Anyway later i found myself standing outside the other house, counting exhalations, waiting for the kids parents to show up, which they did soon. Anyway this story ended on a positive note. But what strikes me is how vulnerable children are. In the first incident the child was vulnerable to the wild rage of that man, and in the second incident to the carelessness of parents.
This time i could easily locate the parents, but what if we cant? any numbers to call for lost children, or is it just about taking to a police station?
anyway, some thoughts i just wanted to share and find out more..

Namaste