Child – the greatest treasure on the earth for any parent, but what happens when the child is snatched away from one parent forcefully by the legal system. It is mostly the fathers who have to bear the brunt of separation. Many times on divorce, he is not even allowed to meet his child. Restraint orders are passed and in recent times mothers are filing false rape or molestation charges against the father just to deny him all access to the child.

It is not news to people who are undergoing divorce or have already seen the same. Syed Makdoom was one such person who was separated from his child due to divorce. He married a woman who had married three more times earlier. This video of News 9 tells the saga of his married life –

He was tortured so much by his wife and in-laws that he had to commit suicide by snatching the child away from him and threatening him to file all criminal cases. Even though he was associated with CRISP (Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting) and was fighting out his battle for child custody, his lawyer had other plans for him. He unnecessarily dragged the case for more than three years for money and without understanding his feelings, while Makdoom continued to miss his children badly. From the video above it can be clearly seen how much he loved his son.

Indian society doesn’t pay any heed to the silent cries of fathers today. Men can’t express their feelings, even if they do, others don’t understand or pay any heed to them. Even though friends and family members always claim to be close, but for issues related to men only some unknown men come to help. Unknown men like volunteers in CRISP, who themselves miss their own children and share the same pain as other fathers.

But even then he committed suicide. He couldn’t bear the pain of missing three birthdays of his children. Birthdays that bring in maximum pleasure to any child, the days when they expect eagerly for the gifts from their parents. Birthdays that are made memorable by both the parents in a way that makes every birthday a special one for the kid. When he saw no hope of meeting his children again, he has decided to take the extreme step.

His love for his son, with whom he has shared uncountable special moments can be clearly visible in this video footage. When Makdoom was on the brink of committing suicide he wrote a poem for his son too. A poem that tells a child how much the father loved him –

But those pillow fights, late-night bike rides to buy candies, the late-night stories to put the little kid to sleep, long baths on lazy weekends all have vanished from Makdoom’s life one day. His wife and in-laws showed extreme cruelty to him and made his life miserable. Even when he prayed to them not to bring his son in their disputes, his in-laws didn’t listen. He was completely alienated from the society, by his own friends who did not understand his pain, by the legal system that could not deliver justice to him.

As a result, he committed suicide and shot his confession video. He clearly stated the reason for his death, he showed his dying love for his child, a strong desire to meet him. The suicide video clearly tells his story in short – ‘I love my son, I want to meet him’.

Are you or any of your known person suffering from this kind of cruelty? It is time to act today –

1. Demand shared parenting – Child stays with one parent for five weekdays and the other parent on weekends.

2. Demand natural visitation right of the child to any parent.

3. Share the pain of such fathers, give them a patient hearing, support them – they need your support.

4. Write to all possible govt. and non govt. organizations to protect father’s rights. Unless you demand, it will not come free.

5. Blog, write, discuss, protest about all issues related to fathers rights and child rights from today. Create a beautiful world for our children.

6. Demand punishment for parents who want to separate the child by giving false stories.

7. If someone is suffering, spread the word that help is at hand. No need to commit suicide. Seek counselling help from men’s rights groups.