I was sexually abused in bus at the age of 11, TMC MP Derek O'Brien reveals in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien stunned Rajya Sabha on Wednesday by revealing that he was sexually abused in his childhood. He said silence is the biggest crime. "I was sexually assaulted while travelling in a bus. At that time, I was 11-year-old and was in short pant. Someone did something at my back and I spotted sperm on my pant," he said in the upper house while offering suggestions to the government for the safety and security of women and children. Terming silence a "biggest crime", he said, "Despite coming from a progressive family, I was too scared to narrate the incident before my parents. This is the tragic crime of silence." It is necessary to send out a message that if any child or women screams in such a situation in a bus or any other means of communication, people should come out in support of him or her without any fear as it is extremely difficult for a victim of sexual harassment to narrate in public the ordeal he or she has suffered, he suggested. There was a pin-drop silence in the House when the popular quizmaster was sharing his experience during the discussion initiated by the Ministry of Women & Child Development. Adding that the condition of women in rural India is far worse, Derek urged the government to adopt good practices followed in various states to address the issue in a comprehensive manner. It is necessary for the Ministry of Women & Child Development to work closely with the ministries of human development and health to curb female feticides and sexual harassment of women and children, he advised the government.