Administration seeks explanation for ‘view business’ using children, ‘cream apa’
Sometimes she dyes her daughter’s hair with harsh chemicals. Sometimes she shaves her head. She pierces her ears with a device like an ear piercing gun. She wears heavy earrings and heavy makeup, swears, takes food from the girl’s face, slaps her, scolds her, pushes her to feed her while she’s sleeping, and slaps her in front of the camera. A woman named Sharmin Shila is posting these videos on TikTok or Facebook. She is known as ‘Cream Apa’ or ‘Kirim Apa’ on Facebook because she sells skin-lightening cream.
Sharmin Shila’s daughter is one and a half years old. She also presents her 12-year-old son in front of the camera. However, she treats him relatively well. Sharmin Shila has been accused of torturing her child in front of the camera in this way to get views or earn money online. People who have watched her videos have made such allegations against her at various times before. However, the administration has not taken any action against her. Last Sunday, Sadat Rahman and others on behalf of the social movement for the protection of children named ‘Ekai Ek Sho’ submitted a memorandum against ‘Krim Apa’ to the Dhaka District Commissioner’s office. The Deputy Commissioner’s office has assured to take effective action within three days. A copy of the memorandum has been given to the Advisor to the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and the Director General of the Department of Social Services.
However, Krim Apa, who has been in discussion for a few days, came live on Facebook and claimed that she never tortured her children. If she tortured them, she would not have done so in front of the camera. She is a ‘virtuous woman’, so others are making such allegations out of jealousy. She is good with her children, and has shared videos of her son being treated well. However, Sharmin Shila or Kirim Apa is uploading videos and then deleting them.
Sharmin Shila has a beauty parlor named ‘Krim Apa Beauty Parlor’ in the Bypail area of Savar. He explains how to use the cream in the video. Apart from this, he presents the girl in various videos about what she is cooking and eating. The girl is silent out of fear. Sometimes she laughs and sometimes she cries abnormally. It is clearly understood in various videos that the girl is in a state of panic all the time. On November 13, 2020, Bangladeshi teenager Sadat Rahman received the International Children’s Peace Prize. The international organization Kids Rights gave Sadat this award for his role in preventing cyberbullying through a mobile app called Cyber Teens.
Regarding the submission of a memorandum against ‘content creator’ Sharmin Shila, Sadat, who is currently a graduate, told Prothom Alo that a social movement has started through Facebook to protect ‘one hundred’ children in the case of child rape discussed in Magura in March. Efforts are being made to work for child protection through volunteers at the district level. It is known that legal notices were sent against Sharmin Shila or Cream Apa earlier on these allegations. However, no action has been taken. The physical and mental well-being of these two children has drawn the attention of the district administration. Many people have been vocal about the matter on Facebook, especially the parents of the children who cannot accept the fact that two children are being tortured in front of their eyes.
Sadat said that the memorandum they submitted to the Deputy Commissioner was accepted by Additional District Magistrate Md. Abdur Rafiul Alam on behalf of the Deputy Commissioner. In addition, they met with the Deputy Commissioner and the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Savar and informed them of the matter. The district administration has given three days to complete various administrative procedures.
On Monday afternoon, Additional District Magistrate Abdur Rafiul Alam of the Dhaka District Administration told Prothom Alo that after receiving the memorandum, they have instructed the Savar UNO to take necessary action in this regard.
Savar UNO Md. Abu Bakar Sarkar told Prothom Alo that the Upazila Women’s Affairs Officer has sent a letter to the woman seeking an explanation regarding the allegations of torturing a child or child. If the woman fails to respond to the letter, action will be taken as per the prevailing law.
Sharmin Shila told Prothom Alo on her mobile phone that she has a beauty parlor, and such allegations are being made out of jealousy. She loves her 12-year-old son and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter very much. They are her ‘pieces of the puzzle’. There is no question of torturing them. She will not make such videos again.
Sadat Rahman says that policies should be made for the online protection of children. Arrangements should be made so that no one can do online viewing business with their child or any child before a certain age, or in special cases, permission should be obtained from the government. Otherwise, not only Cream Apa, but other parents may also be encouraged to do viewing business with their children. This will destroy the joy of children’s childhood.Administration seeks explanation
Abdullah Al Mamun, director of child protection at the international organization Save the Children, told Prothom Alo that what the accused Sharmin Shila is apparently doing to the child in front of the camera can be called abusive behavior. However, since she is doing it deliberately, there is no way to directly say that she is torturing the child. The way she is presenting the child online and on social media, it is clear that she is not fulfilling her responsibilities as a guardian. This can be a problem for the child’s development. Such behavior is also unacceptable in terms of morality.
