A 12-year-old deaf and mute girl from Indore was able to communicate that she had been raped with the aid of a doll.
According to a report in the Times of India, she had been raped by her 19-year-old cousin at her home. The report says that the perpetrator, Omkar, had come visiting during the summer vacations. City Kotwali police station in-charge, Shailendra Singh Jadon, told TOI that Omkar raped the minor upon finding her home alone one day.
Jadon further added, "The girl's parents, who are daily wage labourers, had gone to work whereas her brothers were at school when the incident took place. Omkar allegedly locked the room and raped her. He also threatened her of dire consequences."
Initially, the girl did not mention anything to anyone but when she could not control the excessive bleeding and the pain, she confided in her mother. The minor was so tormented by the incident that she refused to interact with anyone.
Once the police was contacted, they enlisted the help of Gyanendra Purohit, director of Anand Service Society and his wife Monica to help them with the case. The couple interacted with the child with sign language and with the help of a Barbie doll.
Purohit told TOI that as the minor was feeling uncomfortable describing the incident, they brought two dolls — a Barbie doll and a male doll. The minor then described the entire sequence of events by placing her hand on the Barbie doll to describe what had happened to her. She used both the dolls to describe her rape, Purohit said.
The accused fled their house soon after the minor told her mother about the rape. A case has been registered against the rapist.