It is a different situation but toddlers and kids would also not be able to defend themselves if this were to happen imo and physically and mentally they may not speak up if scared or threatened..
Not aimed at you at CB but I find it strange in general how desis tend to be suspicious of strangers but often extended family, distant relatives or friends of friends who we barely even know (in a practical sense) are considered ‘trustworthy.’ As I mentioned before I’ve read that most abuse in our culture seems to happen inside the family yet we happily leave our kids with uncles, older cousins and so on..
Southie I am afraid I disagree. The only root problem here is the maid’s ability to violently attack children. Poor pay and bad working conditions are not an excuse. There are other ways to take out anger. If she was irritated at the employers I agree, but attacking a child shows she has deeper problems as a person than just job satisfaction.
I am not defending her. She should not have done what she did. Abusing a baby is the worst thing one can do.
All I am saying is let us ALSO take this opportunity to see what is structurally wrong with the system. I used PTSD as an example. Let us look at the reality and try to make system better, while condemning the maid’s action.
I could pull up many examples of infants being beaten, at times to death, by members of first world countries. What system will you blame then hmmm?
Stories like this have nothing to do with the system. These are horror stories of tragedy struck victims at the hands of mindless perpetrators.
Its quite shocking people are defending the maid and that she was just trying to make a buck.
I didnt know a maid hitting the baby was the systems fault.
Why dont we give all the maids that dont strike babies an enormous round of applause. Because surely to rise above the system and not smack that child is a demonstration of human excellence and achievement…
If that was my kid, I would have poured boiling water on the maid. (Probably not. I would have stabbed her eye with a pencil). You get the idea. What she did was unacceptable. Try putting yourself in the parents’ shoes.
Southie uncle, you can open another thread, if you like, to discuss fair compensation for maids. I personally believe this maid would be doing the same even if she was getting double her salary. There is something mentally wrong with the maid for her to beat the baby over and over again and in such a violent way. She could have accidentally dropped the baby on the floor when she was throwing him/her on the bean bag. The baby could have lost an arm or a leg, or died. She is a grandmother herself. Would she tolerate such behaviour for her own grandchildren?
Sometimes these things need to be discussed. However uncomfortable it makes us feel. Discussing the system within this context is entirely appropriate in my opinion. But I hear you.
Keeping things separate - not wanting to discuss structural issues while discussing specific cases - prevents us from learning. We grow when we step back. And analyze.
Will open another thread to discuss situation of house help and our attitudes towards them.
If perception of low salary is used as an excuse for anyone abusing the assigned job then whole world society will go under chaos. Such a wrong and idiotic concept to bring in this clear case of crime against humanity.
Even if this maid was to be paid nothing for her job, she has no defense/excuse in abusing the child.
I honestly could not even watch the whole thing. There is no justification for her actions. If you don’t like children then don’t be a nanny. We shouldn’t be looking at any other means or reasons to justify her actions. If someone did that to my child, well I would be in jail right now. I don’t even understand how people can do this to another human. A tiny defenseless human!!!
Just because the parents work does not mean that child is loved or cared about any less. I cannot even wrap my head around how other people and some may have been parents can blame the mother for choosing her career in the comments.
the ONLY possible excuse can be a mental problem. if the nanny was mentally not fit, then she is not be be blamed and/or punished for her acts. if the mental condition defense is not the case then she deserves all the punishment under the law.
