Special child hurt at play

"We sincerely apologize to Neville and his entire family for the distress caused to them during their recent visit to the Fun City outlet at Oberoi Mall. Tiana has been a regular visitor at Fun City, and has always enjoyed her playtime with us. Like every one of the children who visit, she is very important to us and we hope to see her again soon. We have investigated the incident and are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that it does not happen again,” wrote the management of the Mall located at Goregaon in a note on Facebook.

Neville Dhabhar with special daughter Tiana

Tiana, the six-year-old daughter of Neville Dhabhar is a special child who has a condition known as partial albinism, a genetic disorder that causes the skin, hair or eyes to have little or no color due to lack of the pigment melanin. On July 26, 2014 she was denied entry to the gaming section of Fun City as the manager contended that "children are getting scared looking at her because she is a special child.” Other parents rallied around Tiana, who was finally allowed entry, mentioned Mid Day (MD) on August 1, 2014. Her father wrote about the incident on Facebook and the post went viral.
"There have been hundreds of people who have written to me, sharing moments where their child or relative was humiliated. They have encouraged me for standing up for all special children, for lending them a voice,” Neville told MD. But the Mall’s management made "constant calls” asking him to delete the post on Facebook. "I have asked the Fun City to issue an apology publicly, which they refused to do,” the father said, adding, "In the last call they told me they have been getting international calls condemning the incident.”
The management finally capitulated and posted the apology note on Facebook a week later, reported Mumbai Mirror (MM) on August 2, 2014.
Acknowledging the apology, Neville posted a second note on Facebook saying he had forgiven the people concerned. "I am very pleasantly surprised with the immense support I got, and have nothing against the Mall. I am just standing up for these kids and would ask parents of special kids not to differentiate between the children. Every child should be treated the same and this should not happen to any other child ever again,” he was quoted in MM. He also stated that Tiana would continue to visit the play area as she has been doing every week.