“I had never dreamt of sharing something so personal. I’m a mom of two boys, a college grader, and a middle-class person. We are just a family of four with my husband working in the medical field, not a doctor and myself in corporate. Both our parents are no more and of course left with the circle of hi-bye relatives. Having said all this one can wonder what story do I have in here. Yes, I do.

Being brought up as a traditional girl in a strict South Indian family that treats boys as superior always, I had naturally developed a strong disliking for the opposite gender. It happened because my parents left me to stay with my uncle’s family with my cousin just before I reached the stage of my transformation into a beautiful woman.

And here, I was very unfortunate to become a victim of child molestation. Before I could even understand what was happening to me, I was being used by this “evil cousin” for his dirty thoughts. Inappropriate touch and dirty conversations. My family had no clue what was traumatizing me. Waking up to a strange hand trying to explore my body on a number of nights would give me severe shocks.

I would pray to God to help me through every night without any such shocks but I guess God must have been too busy. This went on for about three years before I could muster up some courage to warn him to keep away from me and that I would expose him if he ever tried to continue.