Innocence Cast Asunder - Minors Raped on Goa Beach Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Innocence in its bloom
ignorance in its bud
freedom in its blossom
youth- young boys and girls
in the process of learning-years
growing up with carefree attitude
keeping suspicion in abeyance
keeping purity in all expectations
believing in safety in surroundings
cheerfulness keeps surmounting
everyday, every experience
so meaningful to maturity.
Our girls as daughters always
exhibiting simplicity in character
displaying gentleness in nature
loving until their very last breath
what else is more beautiful and worthier
than a daughter in our households?
But suddenly came a gust of wind,
a wave of destruction
on our pristine beach - the venue
nightfall - the hour
they fell prey to rapists
as men with lust went on plunder
to seek their pleasures by ruthlessness.
Mothers of little girls now in deep tears
as they brought up their daughters
with utmost care and loads of good dreams
of their future and careers;
handled by concern and affection
their of fathers
little girls' safety always valued immeasurably
even by anxious grandparents
who keep asking - has she come home
from school, from tuitions,
the same question asked everyday
as an alert of protection.
And mostly our girls always so attentive
always so precise in their studies,
educated by best teachers;
loved by friends and neighbors,
now what will their pride be
after facing gang rape on an open beach?
where will their respect stand
what will be the outlook of society
how will they change peoples' opinions
what will be the viewpoint of public
how will they revive others attitude
how will they regain their own reputation
these are questions they will think of everyday
and never know their answers.
Even parents will not know
how to explain the unforeseen episode
that their child had to face;
so how will they hold their heads upright
without the shadow of shame
as life will keep on reminding them
of their own miscalculations of safety?
And whether it is a child or a grown up,
whether it is a girl or a boy
protection belongs to all equally
just as liberty belongs to all on this earth;
and whether at the corners of our streets
or on our pristine beaches walks a child
or a minor girl with a carefree mind,
our culture, our tradition upholds
in its arms consistent safety
whether it is daylight or night.
Yet danger always looms,
yet sunset brings in true darkness
when men covet women
and rape them without mercy,
when boys rape young girls without humanity
is this fate or jeopardy of a child's future….
law then keeps watching these culprits for years
in the court rooms offering them a chance
to explain their lame reasons
for such unforgivable cruelty;
law and justice thus unable to replace
what an innocent minor girl-child has permanently lost
to a brutal gang rape.