Whom to blame?

Malak El-Siblani
Environmentalism
Published in
2 min readSep 11, 2022

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The shame is not yours, but theirs. These were the last words my mom said to me before she died.

Who killed Catherine?

Was her uncle the criminal, or her mother who left her alone in the world when she was five, or was it the society that killed her thousands of times before she actually died?
Catherine was 5 years old when her mother decided to leave home and get divorced to be with another man. She was raised by her grandmother and uncle David who had mental health issues and was mostly addicted to alcohol and drugs. David refused to allow Catherine to continue her education because it’s not appropriate for young girls to get an education, and she needs to stay at home to take care of her grandmother.
At her 12th birthday party, her uncle arrived late after midnight, he was drunk and drugged. But even though he knocked on the door several times, no one opened it.

It was completely dark, there was no electricity, after 5 minutes Catherine came with a candle in her hands to open the door to her uncle, who grabbed her hand. and dragged her to the stairs after taking her to the basement and sexually abused her.
Years passed and her grandmother died without knowing what happened to Catherine because her uncle had threatened her. There is no way anyone would be able to notice what’s happening with her for a long period of time. “Party, loud noises after midnight, lots of men and women at night, no one knew what was going on in the house, we couldn’t sleep,” Catherine neighbors told police Robert.

Robert was the first person to know the story of Catherine. Later he was shocked to discover that the girl who had taken care of his elderly mother was Catherine. And he realized why she refused to marry him.
After marrying Robert, Catherine got her mental health care and had a daughter and a son. Insisting on further education, she continued to graduate from mental health school. To be an active member in healthy living NGOs and later to be the owner.

Now she is able to speak and she is starting to feel more comfortable moving forward. She noted, “When my psychiatrist testified, I realized I needed to tell my story to the world. It should be heard widely.”
Catherines was poisoned at the age of 45 by her uncle, whom she had tried to treat and cure.

Imaginary Story

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