Violation of the sanctity of the home of Dheerujlall Seetulsingh
The home of Dheerujlall Seetuslingh, former Supreme Court judge and President of the Human Rights Commission, was penetrated by thieves who stole various items of value. Some of the suspects have been apprehended and several items thankfully recovered. The swift action of the Police is commendable. People undoubtedly share the pain of Dheeruj and of his family and pray for justice to follow its course. However, the distress and psychological trauma suffered by victims of theft, especially when the sanctity of their home has been violated, may be more lasting. Some victims are so traumatised that they even decide to move house since they do not wish to be constantly reminded of that fact and find it difficult to sleep in the same house. In the UK, the Police authorities automatically inform Victim Support about such cases and its trained personnel offer counselling to victims of theft. Knowing him well, I wish to reassure Dheeruj that I understand what he and his family must be going through and pray that they get over it.
Just like people’s right to peaceful possession and enjoyment of their home is sacrosanct, adopted children also have the sacrosanct right to bear the surname of their adopted parent. My wife, Sen Seetulsingh-Soormally, was born of Muslim parents. Her mother died when she was just over one month old and she was adopted by Ramduthlall Seetulsingh, a widower and neighbour, who brought her up as his own and as part of his family. Sen was brought up with tremendous love and affection, and was said to have been the joy of the Seetulsingh family. She was known as Sen Seetulsingh even though her name and surname were not then officially changed. Ramduthlall Seetulsingh, who Sen called « Papa » and with whom she bonded, passed away when she was seven years old, and she remained with the Seetulsingh family until she was twenty-five when we married. However, when Sen applied for official change of name and surname, by letter dated 6 January 1998 signed Mrs C. Awotar for Solicitor General, her application was rejected with no reason given. The Solicitor General at the time was none other than theft victim Dheerujlall Seetulsingh himself. Although the application for judicial review was successful and Sen’s birth certificate duly amended, the trauma of such refusal still haunts us and the damage done is quite far-reaching and often a source of friction in our home because the whole saga was based upon religious discrimination and a caste system, also confirmed by Sen’s ‘niece’ Sharmila Seetulsingh-Goorah, Senior Lecturer at the University of Mauritius, who felt the ‘Seetulsingh’ name was of such high caste that people are prepared to do anything to bear it ! [
Ref. «
Prêt à tout pour porter le nom ‘Seetulsingh’ », l’Express 16 avril 2009]. The sanctity of the right of an adopted orphan, who is also my wife and the mother of my children, has clearly been violated too but justice thankfully followed its course and prevailed.
M Rafic Soormally
24 May 2010
25/05/2010, 00h37
Violation of the sanctity of the home of Dheerujlall Seetulsingh 
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