Calming The Storm🌌 (#wattys2019)√

7. Violated✔

Sampurnaa's pov:

The doctor checked on Sridha, the same girl I had managed to bring home. Her feet were bleeding, there were bruises on her face and her broken form lying on the guestroom's bed was testimony to the hell she had to go through.

I closed my eyes in frustration as Sridha gasped again as the doctor was dressing her wounds. I asked the doctor if I should get some food for her and she asked me to get some light food. I went to the kitchen and started making some soup and alfredo pasta. I knew this was a weird combination but at least she would have something light and healthy in her system soon. As the soup was boiling, I closed my eyes again as her broken and vulnerable state flashed before my eyes again. Her helpless sobs, painful gasps... I could feel my heart clenching and unclenching. I was sure that she had been violated but had to wait for the doctor to confirm this. Moreover, I had to speak to her about the murder confession. It was all messed up but I had to ask her for her sake.
Just as I was turning off the stove, the doctor came out looking for me. I wiped my hands off with a cloth and came out to speak to her.

"The girl was raped. Continuously and brutally for quite a few days. Her private parts were bleeding and she's even been abused which is evident from the injuries she has sustained. She's going to wake up soon and I have collected her blood samples and all the traces of semen I could find near her genitals. I am going to send them for testing and the reports will be sent by the day after tomorrow. The girl has gone through a lot. She can go into shock, in a trance, she may have panic attacks and she can even attack you mistaking you to be someone else. I would suggest consulting a psychologist if she does not reveal anything to you or anyone else. Take care of her with caution." the doctor said to me.

The moment I heard that she had been raped, I couldn't stop that one teardrop from escaping my eye. Sridha seemed so young! Probably around 4 years younger to me! What could be her story? What could have happened? There were several questions but I had to wait for the answers patiently.
......

After half an hour when Sridha woke up, it was perceptible from her dazed and scared expression that she totally forgot where she was. I smiled and moved to her side and fed her some of the food I had prepared. My word, she was famished!
Her weak and bruised face was slowly gaining its color.
She asked for some more food and I obliged. Her condition was surely making my heart bleed.
After having to her fill, she simply crept closer to me and hugged me.
I was taken aback but reciprocated.

"What happened Sridha?", I asked her gently.

"Di! I can never thank you enough! You saved me di! You were kind to me!", she said and started sobbing.

"You called me Di, right? So do not thank me. Just tell me if you need anything and whenever you want to speak about it, speak to me. Okay?"

I told her referring to what she had to go through.
Her eyes teared up.

"Di, I won't be able to sleep if I do not let everything out! I need to tell you everything! Please listen to me!" she said in a broken voice and I could feel a lump rising in my own throat as I said,

"Please tell me everything from the beginning. You are not alone and you will never be alone. You have your di with you. Okay?"

She nodded and began,

"Di, I am a student at St. Paul's college. I reside in Nerul. I am in my 2nd year. Aai and Baba both work in a bank in Turbhe. I am their first child. I have a younger brother. For the past few weeks, I had been receiving anonymous notes which were kept in my college backpack. I complained to the college authorities and also spoke to the police. They advised me to complain if this continued. The next day when I went to college, there was a photo of me which was apparently taken outside my home when I was brushing my hair in my room. I was scared and so I immediately went to the dean to file a complaint. The dean rang up the police and my parents and asked me to return to the class as it would take time for them to arrive. The dean's office is on the ground floor while my class is on the second. As I was climbing the stairs, I felt someone was following me. I looked behind but no one was there. I took a few more steps when suddenly someone grabbed me from behind. I was about to scream but they stuffed a cloth in my mouth and also administered an injection at my neck. I guess it was a sedative because I felt everything going black.
The next time I woke up, I was tied to a bed in that dreadful brothel! There were so many men...." and then she broke down mid-sentence and began crying.

I rubbed her back gently and soothingly while she embraced me and continued crying.

After a while, she stopped sobbing and began again, "Di, there were many men and creepy women too. When a woman came near me, I thought she would help but she said I was going to work with them. Initially, I did not get what she was talking about but then the other women started comparing my figure to theirs and also commented that my body was perfect! Di, I never felt more ashamed of myself!"
She broke down again and I let her calm herself before she continued, "I was made to be in that bed, tied to the posts for an entire day maybe. They did not give me anything to eat or drink. I was trying hard to untie the ropes but I failed. On the second day, two women entered and force-fed me. My hands were never untied. Later, they forced me into wearing an immodest outfit. I had never worn something that gaudy ever! Later they took me to another room and locked me there. I was silently lying on the bed, struggling to open the knots which had me bound to the bed.

Then around late evening, men started coming into the room. They... They violated me... They... They ra...ped... Me!" Sridha dissolved into a puddle of tears. I was holding back tears myself. The girl had to go through all of this when she clearly deserved none.

After crying for 15 minutes, she spoke again, " They used me! I was helpless! They even abused me! The men and women slapped me and hit me! I kept struggling to untie myself but failed. This happened for 4 days! Tonight, I succeeded in untying my hands, when a man was in the room with me. He saw me getting up and hence, took a knife near my genitals. I was petrified! I couldn't kick him as my legs were still not free, so I hit him on the head with a liquor bottle he had kept near the bed. He stumbled back and I snatched the knife from him... He tried to attack me again, but I accidentally managed to drive the knife through his chest. He struggled and then stilled. I was shocked! I untied my feet and tried to feel his pulse but there was none. I managed to murder someone! I am a murderer! How could I do this? I... Am... A... Sinner... I killed a man... !"

She started hyperventilating and hiccuping. I made her sip some water and held her in my embrace. She was brave enough to survive through all this. She had ended up murdering a man.

"How did you escape Sridha?", I asked her.
"I jumped out of the window before people came into the room. I injured my feet as well.", she said.

"Di, I do not want to live as a murderer. I want justice! I want to live freely! I am not a prostitute and I never wanted to give myself away like that! I need help! I want to go to my parents! I want to go back to normal! I need help! I need you!!! I want justice! I am not a murderer! I just wanted to defend myself!", she continued crying and blabbering. She shivered, trembled, and held on to me tightly.
After a while, I felt her relax a bit, and then her breathing became even. I gently lowered her head on the pillow, covered her with a blanket, and tip-toed out of the room.

I stood on the balcony deep in thought.
What this girl had gone through was nothing any girl ever deserved to go through.
"She yearns for justice and I shall ensure that she gets that! I shall help her combat the battle with the monsters who are to be blamed for all that she had to go through.", I vowed to myself.

I started surfing the net for criminal lawyers who could help her and kept going through the vast list of names.
Finally, one name caught my attention, 'Indrayan Chakraborty' and I instantly knew that he was the one and only person who could help Sridha win the battle.
I closed my eyes shut as I tried to calm myself down. I could never feel the trauma of being in Sridha's place, but I knew that no woman deserved to be in her place either. My blood was boiling in rage and I could feel myself shivering. I blinked my eyes as tears started welling. I finally shut my eyes again as I allowed a teardrop to fall down my cheek and this time when my eyes closed, instead of darkness, I saw those burning embers which shone and gleamed, promising to be the light to the darkness.
......................................................................
To be continued...