Emerging pattern in the Jaipur Home case Local contacts and agents
- Sangai Express Editorial :: August 09, 2013 -

A pattern seems to be emerging from the 'voice of concern' and call for 'sensitivity' while dealing with the case of the children rescued from a Jaipur Home some months back.

At least this is what the Tangkhul Shanao Long, Delhi, (TSLD), numerous Ukhrul based organisations and the authority of Ukhrul district hospital have conveyed with a sense of conviction.

Local contacts or 'agents' as the TSLD has put it and clearly Jacob John and his cohorts seem to have come up with a damage control exercise.

More like a contingency plan to blunt the series of accusations that have been levelled against the man who ran Grace Home at Jaipur and is today accused of sexually molesting the young girls and even helpers, far away from their homes.

Hymen ruptured during the forced medical tests conducted on the young girls, was the contention of one 'conscientious' observer, who made it a point to deliver his observation in a statement to the office of The Sangai Express.

The statement went to its rightful place, the dust bin and it never made it to the pages of this newspaper.

The Sangai Express cannot speak for the others.

That such a statement would come from some quarters, the moment The Sangai Express published the medical test report, a copy of which is available with this paper, was not unexpected.

A close study of the case would have left no one in doubt that Jacob John would not have been able to sell the story of a better future for the children without the active co-operation of some local contacts or agents as the TSLD has asserted.

The charges against the findings of the medical tests that have come pouring out is an indication of the local contacts kick starting their damage control exercise.

True, the sensitivity of the case should be respected and appreciated.

Again it is true that the privacy of the children should not be violated under any circumstances.

But to insinuate or directly say that conducting the medical tests amounted to invading their privacy would not only be preposterous but outrageous.

For the record all the members of the medical team were women and certainly they are not quacks.

It is early days yet and Jacob John is only an accused, not a convict.

This should be kept in mind and this is where the need for the prosecution to build a strong case emerges.

Trial by media is a no, no.

But given that child trafficking is a global issue, there is no reason why the media should shy away from passing its observations and comments and chase the story till the end.

The Sangai Express will endeavour to do this.

Now that the pattern is discernible, the civil society organisations, especially the Tangkhul Shanao Long, Delhi, which was at the forefront of rescuing the children from the Jaipur Home, needs to be wary of the local players.

Poverty and the dream of carving out a better future for their children were undoubtedly the driving force which convinced the parents that their children would be better off in a far away place.

Throw in the profile of a man like Jacob John, a widely travelled man, a man of God with a degree in Theology, well educated and most certainly savvy too and herein emerges the perfect cocktail to win the trust and confidence of the parents.

The case is still on, but the charges and counter charges that have emerged is a sure indication that the hands of the man who ran the Jaipur Home is long.

Only the Court can decide whose hand is longer, the long arms of the law or the long hand of a man accused of sexually molesting young girls and helpers.

Time for the people, and not only the people of Ukhrul to keep a close tab on the developments, for central to the unfolding scenario is the plight of children.