When a four-year-old girl died after being brought in to Duncan Hospital’s ICU, the Inspector General of the Police wanted to know more about her background. What he found was that her father was an alcoholic, and he had picked her up by the feet and twirled her in the air, causing the injuries from which she died. The girl’s sister and mother had previously died from lack of medical care.

But there was an older sister as well. Palak was 7, and community members thought she should be taken out of the hostile situation and placed elsewhere. EHA staff reached out to the Child Welfare Committee, the District Child Protection Unit, and Childline to see what could be done for Palak. These organizations discovered that her father had since mysteriously died, and she was now living with an uncle who rejected outside help and expressed his desire to send Palak to Nepal.

Undeterred, EHA project staff again sought intervention from these organizations and went to meet with Palak’s family. After many counseling attempts and local police intervention, Palak was finally released to live in a local home, and she was registered for school. If Palak had not been rescued, she likely would have missed out on having a healthy childhood and an education, and she might well have become a victim of child abuse.