Should I intervene??

The other day I was standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus when a woman came out the station with 2 kids. One was picking up something off the floor and the woman shouted "get up you STUPID girl"

Over the next 7 minutes she hit the kid (little girl) so that the child was cowering in the corner and she carried on yelling at her. This woman was a total bully and the little girl who was 9 or 10 was cowering and crying.

Now I have no idea if the kid was hers or not (I doubt it) and the little boy was playing on the side.

Eventually another woman went to talk to the little girl to see if she was ok. Which she clearly wasn't.

What really cut me up was that I did nothing about it. I watched but didn't get involved. Now if it had been my kids and my au pair, I would have wanted people to stop her hitting the child, or threatening to. Hell, I wold have wanted them to call me and tell me. And I did none of that. I stood, like a stupid, worthless person, watching some child be scarred for the rest of her life. And I'm ashamed of myself - still.

What I did appreciate was some old man went and gave this woman a 'right bollocking' and made her cry. Good. But the likely hood is she would go home and take that out on the little girl too. Child abuse at it's best.

I am still haunted by the image of the child cowering - and ashamed at myself. It hurts both ways. The worst thing is I think I'd do the same again next time - and I don't know why!!