Differently abled children deserve better

A child with autism was recently beaten by a special educator in a Noida school. A video caught it all — the hitting, the fear, the helplessness. The boy, just 10 years old and non-verbal, couldn’t scream for help. He couldn’t tell anyone. But the video spoke for him. This is both appalling and deeply telling of a broken system. This is not an isolated aberration. Across India, instances of abuse — physical, emotional and institutional — against persons with autism and intellectual disabilities persist with disturbing frequency. Whether in schools, state-run homes or informal care settings, violations of basic dignity go unchecked, largely due to poor oversight and inadequate accountability mechanisms.