Why Gabriel Fernandez's story should be a wake-up call to everyone
I came home to a dark, gloomy Monday after a long day at work. Heavy rain, & black skies galore. I was exhausted from work, so I decided to switch on Netflix, where my dashboard flashed at me "The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez" in big bold font.
Hmmm. Looked mysterious. So I decided to give it a shot, being the avid documentary fan that I am, & started watching one episode.
Then another.
And....another. I was riveted. It was a story so sick, so twisted; it was every lawyer & parents' worst nightmare.
Gabriel Fernandez was an 8-year old kid who passed away in May 2013 after being tortured to death over many years - especially so in the 8 months leading up to his death - by his own mother & her boyfriend, both of whom were arrested later & convicted for his murder. The acts done to him were so gruesome, that I had to pause multiple times & ponder if I honestly wanted to finish the episode or abandon it. Who in their right mind would do such things, especially to your own child? How can you justify child abuse?
You can't.
I could sprout off essays to the moon & back on how much I despised Pearl, his mother. It made my eyes water when the screen cut to the shot of him creating cards for her, hoping that she could just love him in return. But as the layers started peeling off, we began to see that Pearl herself too, was a victim of a vicious cycle. Of gang rape, of domestic abuse, of drugs. And thus, the whole cycle simply transcended to the next generation. Nothing can justify child abuse, where kids forced to live in a culture of silence & to endure every single verbal, mental, sexual & physical attacks possible at the mercy of grown-ups. I strongly remember my own frustration at not being listened to as a child, my anger & fear at these beanstalk-looking humans looming in front of me- these grown ups, & how small & threatened I felt when I used to get a verbal thrashing.
So Gabriel's death was rationalised as a case of child-abuse & neglect at both the hands of the mother & the social workers, who overlooked the warning signs of abuse & failed to investigate his living conditions. But no-one in your neighbourhood called the social services. You went unnoticed. Your own parent wasn't the only one who failed you, Gabriel.
The system did. But what's worse is - the whole society did.
Today's world is rife with unsolved cases of rampant child abuse, that are rationalised as necessary to preserve the 'work' of a 'busy' administration & legal system. Laws are supposed to protect the children. But what happens when the people supporting the laws themselves can't protect them? The so-called figures of morality themselves?
Oh Gabriel. Sweet, unassuming, Gabriel, whose innocent, sad eyes tear me apart every time I look at his picture. As Michele Sharpe so aptly put it- "We push that truth away, as we always have, by appealing to humanity’s basest instincts: greed, fear, and racism." We belittle such 'trivial' things till they shrink away & disappear, only to come back from time and time again to haunt us.
Gabriel's loss is society's loss. Gabriel's loss, is our loss. And till a system that is indoctrinated without racial bias, with stronger investigation policies or laws that can & are enforced proactively, children- one of society's most vulnerable segments, will continue to suffer & continue this cycle.
Rest in peace, Gabriel. ♡
Hmmm. Looked mysterious. So I decided to give it a shot, being the avid documentary fan that I am, & started watching one episode.
Then another.
And....another. I was riveted. It was a story so sick, so twisted; it was every lawyer & parents' worst nightmare.
You can't.
I could sprout off essays to the moon & back on how much I despised Pearl, his mother. It made my eyes water when the screen cut to the shot of him creating cards for her, hoping that she could just love him in return. But as the layers started peeling off, we began to see that Pearl herself too, was a victim of a vicious cycle. Of gang rape, of domestic abuse, of drugs. And thus, the whole cycle simply transcended to the next generation. Nothing can justify child abuse, where kids forced to live in a culture of silence & to endure every single verbal, mental, sexual & physical attacks possible at the mercy of grown-ups. I strongly remember my own frustration at not being listened to as a child, my anger & fear at these beanstalk-looking humans looming in front of me- these grown ups, & how small & threatened I felt when I used to get a verbal thrashing.
So Gabriel's death was rationalised as a case of child-abuse & neglect at both the hands of the mother & the social workers, who overlooked the warning signs of abuse & failed to investigate his living conditions. But no-one in your neighbourhood called the social services. You went unnoticed. Your own parent wasn't the only one who failed you, Gabriel.
The system did. But what's worse is - the whole society did.
Today's world is rife with unsolved cases of rampant child abuse, that are rationalised as necessary to preserve the 'work' of a 'busy' administration & legal system. Laws are supposed to protect the children. But what happens when the people supporting the laws themselves can't protect them? The so-called figures of morality themselves?
Oh Gabriel. Sweet, unassuming, Gabriel, whose innocent, sad eyes tear me apart every time I look at his picture. As Michele Sharpe so aptly put it- "We push that truth away, as we always have, by appealing to humanity’s basest instincts: greed, fear, and racism." We belittle such 'trivial' things till they shrink away & disappear, only to come back from time and time again to haunt us.
Gabriel's loss is society's loss. Gabriel's loss, is our loss. And till a system that is indoctrinated without racial bias, with stronger investigation policies or laws that can & are enforced proactively, children- one of society's most vulnerable segments, will continue to suffer & continue this cycle.
Rest in peace, Gabriel. ♡
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