Consensual-part 16

I had accepted his so called fun ways though I wished he would change. It was heartbreaking to know that I still loved him even when he was verbally abusing me. Maybe I was getting immune to it.

I was preparing evening tea for everyone when my sister in law, Reena barged inside. She quickly rushed to her room. She didn’t let anyone see her red face. But I could catch a glimpse of her pain stricken face. I felt she had some emotional breakdown. Thus I followed her to her room.

She was sitting on the floor with her face covered in her hands. I placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to assure her that I was there for her. She looked at me with longing eyes and bursted out crying. I hugged her and consoled her by rubbing her back. “ It’s okay! I am with you. You can share your pain with me.”, I said softly. After taking some long breaths, she spoke, “ I.. I am not going back! I am not going back to his house. I had enough! I can’t stand!”

Reena was married early to a small businessman’s son. My father in law had thought this was the best family he had searched for Reena. But he failed to understand that they were greedy pigs who only wanted his wealth and not her. He had tried to convince them to accept her by sending large amount of cheques to them. But their demand didn’t end there.

Now they were torturing her to bring more. She was right! This was enough. It had to be stopped. I didn’t realise when Ma and father in law had arrived. I was totally into my thoughts of bringing justice to Reena. They were consoling her and asking her to go back. I don’t know where that feminist in me came from. I stood up and said firmly, “ We must end this. You can see that they are hurting her more. We can’t tolerate any more abuses on Reena akka. ( she was a year older to Praveen)” “ But how can we keep her in our house? Dear, we live in a society where we need to adjust to the social norms. No girl can stay with her parents when she is married.”, Ma said. “ It is also wrong for one to close their eyes on such evil happenings. Dowry is a crime. Why do you care about society? Reena’s safety should be our priority. She is not safe there.”, I said

Ma was about to say something when father in law interrupted in between, “ Shruti is right! Dowry is wrong. We cannot keep blind eye to our daughter’s suffering. Reena will stay here. Tomorrow I will file a case against them.”, he said. “ Thanks Shruti!”, Reena said and hugged me tight.  I felt elated for the first time.

(To be continued )