Chapter 6: Mob Justice
You dare say it wasn’t you?” The mother dragged her daughter over, trying to get her to identify me. “Was it him? Was it him who took you to the storeroom?”
The little girl hid behind her mother’s sari pallu, eyes wide and terrified. “Beta, bol! Bol na, yahi tha?” The tension in the air was suffocating.
The mother kept pressing, over and over: “It was him who took you to the storeroom and took off your pants, right?”
Her voice was shrill, relentless, her hands clutching the child’s arms so tightly the little one whimpered in pain. In our society, people don’t realise how easily children get frightened—sometimes they end up saying anything to escape the pressure.
Her vicious tone frightened the little girl into sobbing. “Mummy, sob, uncle didn’t.”
The poor child’s words barely made it through her hiccuping sobs. She clung to her mother, face wet with tears, looking at me with confusion and fear. It broke my heart—how did this tiny girl get dragged into such madness?
My friend couldn’t take it anymore. “The child already said no. Why are you forcing her? Look at her—look how scared she is. Do you always treat her like this?”
Arjun’s voice cracked with anger. “Arey, bachchi ko kyun dara rahi ho? Dekh nahi sakti kitni dargi hai?” The constable standing near him nodded in silent agreement.