A human is not a human until he behaves like one. These days stuff keeps popping on the media every now and then giving us a very glimpse picture of the human state of affairs. Humanity seems to ceasing to exist as we become more and more developed as a race.

Evolution, somehow, seems to be having a negative growth in the areas of morality. The case of baby P has shivered the spine of the developed world and must be seen as a snap shot of the social trends that are building in today’s world.

The grief of baby P is not yet over and we have this devastating picture of another pair of humans who again happen to be the ones who are supposed and designated to look after their child. Khyra aged just 7, dubbed as ‘The Skeleton Girl’, died out of starvation in the heart of Great Britain.

Her real mother and step dad starved her to death leaving her like a famine victim. She was subjected to a cruel, deliberate and calculated punishment regime which left her a virtual skeleton. The pathologist who performed her post mortem termed it as the worst case of malnutrition seen in the Western World.

She was starved for 5 months and then fell victim to the symptoms of malnutrition. During this period, she had been kept off school like a prisoner in her home by her very own real mother. The house had a well equipped kitchen with a fridge, freezer and a full pantry but a lock was fitted out of reach of Khyra and the five other kids living in the same premises.

The mum and step dad are now accused of killing and a case is in process against them in the court. Prosecutor Timothy told the court that ‘the youngsters were starved and starved and starved for weeks and weeks and weeks’.

Of khyra’s emaciated body he said, ‘You might have seen such things on TV-such as in famines in Africa’. It was also told that two other children also suffered acute malnutrition but have regained their health now.

Punishments were introduced if they were found stealing food from their own home. They were hit, all of them, severely. If they were successful in stealing, they were made to eat and eat until they were sick. They were detained and made to stand out in the cold.

What more to say, there were books on childcare and development and an encyclopedia of children’s nutrition in the bedroom of the parents. And the most amazing part of all this is that Khyra’s mother denies charges of cruelty while her step dad admits them, both deny murder.

For me, there are several concerning aspects to this happening. The prime most is how can a mother witness her young daughter die of starvation when she has access to food and how can a human let it happen to a child? What scale of measurement should be used to measure the depth of this act of cruelty and the mother claims innocent!

The second aspect that concerns me is that both of the parents were Muslims. And the step father, Abu Hamza, turns out to be a new Muslim convert while the mother had split up from her first husband. Both of them were, probably, living in partnership and not in a marital relationship.

I would like to ask Abu Hamza that what aspects of Islam had influenced him to become a Muslim. The teachings of Islam clearly speak about human rights as their foremost priority. And then they stop you from lustful behaviours.

So how did Islam influence Abu Hamza? Why did he convert? What change did it bring in him after he converted or if there was no change then why the need to convert? Just by saying that there is no God but Allah is not the thing that is desired by a Muslim.

According to saying of the Prophet Muhammad, a Muslim is not a Muslim until the time he likes for his brother (don’t take the word brother in its implied meaning) the same as he desires for himself.

And further Muhammad says, a Muslims is not a Muslim until his brother is not safe from (the evil of) his hands and his tongue. And on a girl child the teachings of Muhammad peace be upon him says, who so ever raises two girl child to their age of marriage with full care and with discrimination shall be in the heavens alongside Muhammad.

Did Abu Hamza not read these before or after he converted? Is the mother not aware of all this, not just as the mother of the child but also as a Muslim?

I am grieved, grieved at the thought of thinking the state of Khyra when she could see food but could not fill her appetite and the other young children in the house as well. I fail to comprehend the logic behind this “target killing”.

If the father was the initiator of the cruelty, as he has confessed to it, what was the mother doing? Could she not do anything to stop his cruelty and how does she have the guts to plead innocent?

As the trial continues to establish the blame and responsibility, I would like to hear that the punishment given to these humans should reciprocate the torment they have inflicted upon the young Khyra.

Is it a human right to be starved in a nation where millions of tons of food is just thrown away as expired?