The teen who battered baby Falak: Offender or victim?

New Delhi: She took a battered baby Falak to AIIMS. And, before she knew it, became an integral character in the torrid story that would unravel in the days to come on national media. Falak’s story gave us glimpses of Gudiya’s life- how an abusive father turned her into a runaway child; how she got trapped in the thriving sex trade of the national capital; how she took care of baby Falak, and how one night she battered the 18-month-old girl, leading to her untimely death. And now, the teenager is facing dual judicial proceedings where one child protection institution treats her as an offender and the other sees her as a victim. More than three months after baby Falak’s death, the teenager continues facing trial in both the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), meant for children in conflict with law, and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), meant for children in need of care and protection. [caption id=“attachment_369293” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The story of baby Falak also brought the tragic story of Gudiya into focus: Screengrab from CNN-IBN[/caption] Child rights experts say that prolonged trial of a case in multiple institutions will only add to the child’s troubles. “She is already under trauma. These proceedings will only increase her confusion,” said Dr Bharti Sharma, former chairman, CWC, Delhi. The Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) talks about coordination between the CWC and JJB. But the Act does not mention how the authorities can minimise the juvenile’s exposure to judicial intervention. It is silent on what happens if JJB and CWC have different views on a case. For example, if the JJB says that the child is fit to go to school and the CWC believes that he or she should be sent to a rehabilitation centre before going to school, whose decision carries more weight? “Legal intricacies vary from case to case. In this particular matter, JJB and CWC should hold a joint meeting to arrive at a consensus as to what will happen to the child and who will take care of her,” said Dr Sharma. On 19 January, a day after Falak was admitted to AIIMS- police took Gudiya to the house of Raj Mangal Prasad, then chairman of the South Delhi CWC. Next morning, Prasad said, he referred the case to the JJB. The Board refused to entertain the case, asking the CWC to provide the teenager with shelter. After Falak’s death, however, Delhi police pressed fresh charges against Gudiya. The Delhi police filed an application before the CWC seeking permission to produce Gudiya before JJB- II. The CWC granted permission. Since then, both the child protection institutes are hearing her case. “In principle, every child in conflict with law is a child in need of care and protection. The fact that a child has committed a crime means that he or she needs care. This does not mean that he or she should not be punished. But the system should make sure that the child’s situation does not worsen and he or she is not exposed to multiple judicial proceedings,” said Anant Asthana, a lawyer who specializes in child rights. “The law says that the child should be kept away from legal intervention as much as possible. But the exact opposite is happening in this case,” he added. Gudiya’s statements to the CWC reveal that her father, Jitendra Gupta, used to regularly beat her. After Gudiya’s mother died of tuberculosis in 2005, Gupta started living with another woman, Geeta. Gudiya was asked to call her ‘mother’ and Gupta would thrash her because she refused to do that, she told a counselor. She even lived in an orphanage for three years. All this went into the making of a runaway child who then was induced into prostitution. This makes a case for a child in need of care and protection. Gudiya also narrated to the counselor, the events of 17 January, which, after Falak’s death, would make her a child in conflict with law. Falak would not stop crying that night. Gudiya, who was alone with the baby in room no 210 of the Shalimar guest house in Mahipalpur on the outskirts of the national capital, tried calming her down. But nothing worked. Finally in frustration she slapped the 18 month old and bit her on both her cheeks and right leg. The baby finally went to sleep, only to wake up after around half an hour later as she had soiled her diaper. Gudiya took her to the bathroom to clean her. The child fell flat on her face and started bleeding from her head. The next morning, she took the baby to a private nursing home which referred her to AIIMS. She died 59 days later. Firstpost contacted the JJB II, but they refused to share the current status of Gudiya’s case or comment on if would hand over Gudiya’s custody to the CWC. Officials in the CWC said they would soon be writing to JJB II about the case.