A story to share

Written by Dr. Sharifah Khaidah Syed Sahab

I'm launching my blog today on my 44th day of confinement and I like to share the following story as my first entry.The story below is really touching my heart and may Allah preserve my kids and all the children out there from all the bad deeds and doings. Nauzubillah.......





Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

This is a true story of Jati, a story of a very innocent gurl, who eventually passed away at a very young age.

She lived in a rural area, in a remote place far away in the Sarawak province. She stayed in a 'rumah panjang' together with her parents and other siblings, mixing with the other neighbours' family as well. She has got so many brothers n sisters below her, and being the eldest child, she was given the responsibility to take care of her siblings.

The story began when she was allegedly raped at the age of 14 by an Atuk, whose age around 70+ and was also staying inside the rumah panjang. The parents felt so embarrased with the incident, and to maintain the dignity of the family, they forced the innocent daughter to marry the old man. No one has ever reported the incidence to the respected bodies. Finally, she was blessed with a child resulted from the unwilling and unwanted marriage. Now then she has to take care of a baby, on top of her own siblings and not forgetting the old 'baby' who was the culprit of all the things that happen.

She got tired as the day went by, and being a small child, she was not even prepared for that. When her baby reached the age of 6 months, she was again surprised to find out that she was pregnant for the 2nd time. Being so naive about contraception, she didnt know what to do with this unwanted pregnancy. She was already tired with the life that she was going through. No one would ever help her out, what more to share the tears with her. She finally went to see her mom, and told her that she would not want to continue with this pregnancy, as she was already overburdened with a growing baby, the old man as well as her other siblings. Things has been put on her shoulder alone, and she couldnt bear with it anymore.

Her mom unfortunately brought her to see a traditional healer, which took her 3 hours to get there from her rumah panjang. Sad for her, that actually the mom should have brought her to see the nearest nurse who was in charge of the klinik desa there, which also took her 3 hours to get there. It is understood that any form of abortion is considered as illegal in this country. The procedure of abortion was done in a completely nonsterile technique, whereby fish bones were inserted into her womb. She was crying in pain... And unfortunately her sufferings did not end there just like that.

She was down with high grade fever several days after, and no one cared for her including the old man. At one time she was so critically ill, and that was the time where the mother finally brought her for medical attention. Only this time she knew where to bring her daughter, who was so ill. They went to see the nurse, and as I said, it took her 3 hours to get there by boat. Upon arrival, she was so ill that the nurse decided to transfer her to the nearest hospital. They went there using boat 'ambulance' bcoz that was the only mean of transportation that can be used there.

Unfortunately, God loved her more that she eventually passed away on the boat in the middle of her journey to seek help at the hospital. She passed away only at the age of 15. For all the sacrifices that she has done for the whole family, may God place her in the best place of heaven.