WHOSE FAULT IS IT ANYWAY?

She must have screamed…screamed because of the pain, the terror, the agony and the betrayed trust. Or was she too scared to do even that?

It had started off as a normal day when all things happen like they always do. She had gone to school, played with her friends, sung songs with her teacher and was all excited about her brother’s birthday party in the evening. Rahul Bhaiya had turned seven today. She had already bought him a gift. She was very fond of birthdays, especially if it was hers. Mummy had said that her birthday would soon come along and then she would be four years old. “You will be a big girl then, Anjali.” mummy had told her.
She packed her school bag and got ready to go home. She was very excited as she climbed onto the school bus and sat in her favorite place by the window. That day Ganesh bhaiya took her in his arms and told her that they would go for a special drive after they had dropped everyone. Ganesh bhaiya was the bus driver and also her best friend. He never scolded her, he bought her sweets and sometimes even put her on his lap while he was driving the bus. Anjali loved rides and she looked forward to that one that evening.
But the ride that day wasn’t very pleasant. Ganesh bhaiya had taken her to a lonely place and soon started removing her clothes saying that they were dirty and that he would give her a new one. The cleaner bhaiya just watched them. They then started touching her everywhere and teasing her. She did not know what was happening. Was Ganesh bhaiya good or bad? Was she supposed to smile and laugh like they did? She wanted to cry. She did not like what they were doing. It hurt too much….
Anjali soon fainted because of the pain. She woke up after sometime and found the cleaner bhaiya wiping away some blood on the seat. Whose blood was that? Hers? Ganesh bhaiya then took her to an ice-cream parlour and bought her lots of ice cream. He said that he had to hurt her because he really loved her. He also asked her not to tell anybody about what happened. ”It will remain our secret” he said. Anjali didn’t know what to say. She just nodded her head.
By the time she reached home, the pain was unbearable. She could not walk. As soon as she saw her mother she burst out crying.
It became a big issue in town. People discussed about it everywhere, the police arrested the two culprits and it was decided that every school has to provide transportation for its students. Mama asked her not to tell anybody anything and she was kept in the house for more than a week. “My parents seemed to know so much about it…it seems that so many such incidents have happened before. Couldn’t they just have warned me?”
People spoke in whispers when she was around. A couple of days passed and the whole thing was forgotten. Life was normal again.
“But what do I do?” Anjali heard something scream within her. “Will I be able to go to school without fear now? Will I ever be able to let others, even papa, touch or carry me? Will I ever be able to trust anyone again? Will I ever be the same again?”