What is really sad, and frightening, is that this did not happen in a vacuum. People saw how she was treated by her mother and the situation was ignored. Thus, neither the mother nor the child was helped. Even saying that this behavior is not okay in the presence of a child, even when you cannot protect the child, you let the child know that certain things are not okay. And release the child from the "belief" that they are. I am guilty of this myself. What a tragic situation, which I wish I could say was a rare occurrence, but we ignore things that should not be ignored all the time. And we need to find a way to bring them back into pleasant society instead of shunning or making them outcasts. imho