A 7-year-old Indian girl has called for her father’s arrest after failing to honour his promise to build an indoor toilet.
Through a letter, Hanifa Zaara told the police that her father had "cheated" her hence, he should be arrested.
Unfulfilled promise
Speaking to BBC, Hanifa accused her dad of lying to her after promising to build the toilet if she topped in class. She was in nursery at the time.
"I have been topping my class since nursery. I am in the second grade now. And he is still only saying he will do it. This is a form of cheating, so please arrest him," she wrote.
She said that she was "ashamed" to defecate outside.
"I was ashamed to go outside and I felt bad when people looked at me,” she said.
If not arrested, she requested the police to force him to provide her a signed letter saying he will build the toilet.
Unemployed
On his part, her father stated that he had begun building the toilet but was unable to finish since he’s currently unemployed.
"I asked Hanifa to give me more time but she stopped talking to me because I couldn't keep my promise," he added.
But an unsympathetic Hanifa said “how long can I keep asking him for the same thing? He kept giving me the same excuse about not having enough money. So I went to the police."
Following Hanifa’s move, district officials now plan to raise money to build more than 500 toilets in her neighbourhood.
Having refused to speak to her father for the last 10 days, she finally shook his hand after police brokered peace between them.
According to Unicef, half the population in India, around 564 million people do not have access to toilets and defecate in the open.
