Calming The Storm🌌 (#wattys2019)√

8. Making things right✔

Sampurnaa's pov:

It was Sunday today. Ma-Baba and Dada- Boudi were returning late in the evening. Sridha was sleeping in the guestroom. She had woken up several times screaming helplessly.

This morning I called the doctor and she advised me to take Sridha to her house and speak to her parents about it. Moreover, I came to know from my senior and the police that Sridha was the same girl whose parents had filed a missing report a week ago. I informed the police that I would take her back to her parents sometime in the afternoon and they agreed.

Dada called me once and I briefed him about what had happened. To say he was furious with me would be an understatement. He screamed at me for a good half an hour over the phone for having been present at the red light area at an unsafe hour. Worse of all things that could happen, Baba heard what had happened and pledged to get me married in a year so I would get some sense of responsibility and would have a husband to accompany me when I go to unsafe places.
I rolled my eyes at all that he was saying out of rage and concern.

Finally, I apologized and also told them about Sridha. Apparently, Ma, Boudi, and Boudi's mother started crying hearing all this.

Just then, I heard Sridha calling out to me. I quickly disconnected the call after excusing myself and went to her.
She wanted to take a shower and change. I guided her to the washroom and brought her some of my clothes to change into.

I headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast for the both of us when I heard a shrill shriek.

I ran as quickly as I could and saw Sridha weeping inconsolably cradling her own face. Her wounds were still not healed... There were scars everywhere!

"I honestly thought this morning that it was all a nightmare! But... But... It had to be reality!!!" she screamed and then broke into loud sobs.

I sighed and I consoled her, "Sridha, I honestly understand how you might be feeling but you have to be strong so you can fight against those who thought you are weak. These scars" I pointed at her reflection in the mirror, "Prove to the world how strong you are to have survived this. Never think otherwise! And please clean up and come out to have some breakfast. You need to grow stronger! Moreover, I am taking you to your parents today. They need to see the daughter they have been looking for this last week. Okay?"

Sridha wiped her tears and nodded slowly. I hugged her once before going out to get her some food.

The rest of the morning passed by as I tried hard to distract her from all the mishappenings.
....

At around 1, I pulled outside one of the gates of a well-maintained apartment building overlooking Palm Beach Road.

Sridha was shivering a bit as she walked towards the same place she called home, the same place she had been away from for an entire week.

I held her hand and we went on our way.
We stood silently with occasional deep breaths from her as we waited for someone to answer the door to Flat 504.

A while later, a middle-aged woman opened the door, almost lifelessly.
Her eyes widened at the shock and joy of seeing her lost daughter!

She pulled Sridha into a hug and her father and brother soon joined in.

They had a teary reunion while I stood as a silent spectator.
After all the joy of getting someone back when all hopes seemed to have died can be compared to that sudden ray of sunlight that lights up the entire horizon which was initially clad in darkness.

....

"Thank you for bringing her home! She's all we had and then..." Sudha aunty's (Sridha's mom) voice trailed of.
I took her hands in mine and smiled reassuringly.

She tried hard to reciprocate but failed. The shock she had received on knowing what her daughter had gone through was something that had visibly shaken her. I told Sridha's family about what the doctor had advised and all about Sridha's request; That she wanted justice.

They had listened and agreed.

Sridha's brother, though younger, had vowed to see the last of those who had made his sister suffer this way.

Her father had been more than supportive.
I asked them to file an FIR and requested them to allow me to handle everything from the legal point of view as I was a witness and also had evidence to prove that Sridha had indeed been found from the red light area in a terrible state.
Her parents gave me their consent and I promised them to get the best lawyer I would get and also the justice she craved for.

I also told them about her mental state, that she may try and harm herself, that she may cry inconsolably at times and that she needed to be around someone of her own family before stepping back into normal life.

And then I bid them goodbye as I drove away with a newfound determination of making things right...
...

Indrayan's pov:

Adrija's father-in-law and Abhimanyu have been scolding someone over the phone. I could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation. I heard 'red light', 'rape', 'unsafe' and even 'dead'.

I could make neither head nor tail of these words even as I tried. What they were discussing was obviously disturbing and serious though because soon Adri, Abhi's ma, and Ma began to cry.

I looked at Abhimanyu, silently asking for an explanation.

He sighed and obliged, "It was my sister. She was telling us about a girl who apparently escaped from the red light area. Her condition was not good. She said something in more detail to Ma and Adrija or so I am guessing from their state."

We just waited for the women to calm down for some answers but neither of them could speak much about the incident.
I figured out that there had been a major crime, the details for which I had to wait till my return to Mumbai.
...

To be continued...