In Tamil Nadu, girl goes to cops as dad fails to build toilet

CHENNAI: A seven-year-old girl in Ambur took her father to the cops on Monday for not building her a toilet at home as he had promised to do if she stood first in class.
"He promised to construct a toilet for me two years ago. But he did not do it till date. I am growing and I feel ashamed to defecate in the open. So, I approached the police to complain against my father," said E Hanifa Zaara, who is in class 2.

The girl, in her complaint, said her father had promised to build a toilet if she got the first rank when she was studying in LKG. She's in Class II now and has always stood first. But her father had failed to keep his word. This amounted to "cheating", the girl said and demanded that he should give an assurance in writing or should be arrested.

Man says he is proud of daughter for standing up

Ambur all-women police station sub-inspector A Valarmathi said the child had brought along around 20 medals and certificates as proof of her academic skills. “She explained her problems. I immediately contacted the sanitary officer and asked him to help the family build a toilet,” she said.

Zaara’s father Esanullah, 31, had no clue what was up when he got a call around 3.30 pm from the police asking him to turn up at the station.

“I was scared when a woman police officer asked me to come to the station immediately. The minute I stepped into the station and saw my daughter and wife, I was really confused. The police officer then explained the situation to me and asked me to convince my daughter and take her home,” said Esanullah.

He is, however, very proud of Zaara, the elder of his two daughters. “I have been teaching her to be bold and to approach the police if she faces any problem,” he said.

As soon as she returned home after writing her half-yearly exams, Zaara insisted on going to the police station, said her mother, Mehareen, 26.

“Though I tried to dissuade her and said father was facing financial problems as he did not have a job, she had made up her mind. She has been refusing to eat food since Sunday night. So, I went with her,” said Mehareen.

Esanullah says he had submitted petitions to the Ambur municipality twice, seeking financial aid under the Swachh Bharat scheme to build a toilet. Hours after the family returned home, local body officials turned up and said they would build a toilet under the central scheme soon.