Friday, October 2, 2015

The Peace Crusaders: Chapter 16

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Minmin was a smart, bright and a bold student studying the advanced economics course taught by Shakti in one of the top notch universities of Chinhut.

Presently she was resting on a comfortable couch of Shakti’s chamber in the institute. Shakti sat in his swivel chair with his gaze fixed at her face. He was worried about her. He was waiting for her to regain consciousness. Her face was swollen. She was looking pale and tired.

He pondered, “Why a girl like Minmin should take this dire step of committing suicide? She is bright in studies. She is confident. She comes from a well-to-do family. She is young and beautiful. Then why? But now she seems to be all right. The doctor has declared her out of danger.”

While he was still in his deep thoughts, he saw Minmin making some movements. She seemed restless though. Shakti rushed to her with a glass of fruit juice. He said, “Minmin, open your eyes. I’m Shakti, your economics professor. Please drink some juice.”

Minmin obeyed. She swallowed some juice. She opened her eyes and exclaimed, “Sir, why am I in your office and that too sleeping in your couch? Hope you too haven’t taken advantage of me.”

“What rubbish are you talking? You are absolutely safe here. What do you mean by ‘taking advantage of me’?”

“That’s what the white collared people at high positions are doing these days,” she spoke and became unconscious once again.

Shakti guessed that Minmin was still in some kind of a trauma. He sprinkled some water on her face. In a moment she came to her senses. She opened her eyes. She labored to sit straight in the couch. She wouldn’t allow Shakti to touch her or help her. She warned, “Don’t ever try touching me.”

Shakti said, “I will not touch you, I promise. Do you know you collapsed in my class today? I had to dismiss the class. I sent out all the students and called for a doctor.”

“Did the doctor find that I was raped?” Minmin asked Shakti alarmingly.

“Doctor did not say anything like that. You seem to be in some kind of delirium to be talking like this,” Shakti said and the paused for a moment. He then continued, “The doctor only mentioned that you collapsed under an influence of overdose of sleeping pills. He gave an injection and declared you out of any danger. Why did you do it?”

“Sir, I’m not in any delirium. I’m fully in my senses now. Please believe me. I was raped yesterday night. I couldn’t bear the shame and I wanted to kill myself. Then I gulped many sleeping pills right in the classroom here. I use a sleeping pill or two occasionally during my exam days.”

“When a woman declares about her rape I have to believe. No lady will ever say so and disgrace herself unless it is true. So I sincerely believe you. Will you like to tell me more about it?”

“I will tell you everything sir. I must tell it to somebody or I will go mad. You are a person I respect and I know that you have been helping a number of students whenever they needed any kind of help and so I will tell you. Before that I want to know if doctor has certified my case as suicide. It will only complicate the matters.”

“I realized it myself. The doctor who attended you is a good friend of mine. I have requested him to treat this case as exhaustion. The doctor exactly did that. Are you satisfied?”

Shakti waited for her reaction.

“Thanks sir, you have been thoughtful. Now please listen to my tale of disgrace. I will request you not to divulge it to anyone. I swear what I will tell you is 100% truth.”

“I promise.”

“OK. Listen. Yesterday after I reached my hostel room, a well
dressed person came and introduced himself as an official from the prime minister’s office. His business card showed his designation as executive assistant to the prime minister of Chinhut- the animal Zintun.” Minmin was in a rage as she spoke.

“How did he know your whereabouts?” Shakti asked.

“Here let me tell you that I had applied to a few select organizations for a job in anticipation of completing my graduation, one of them being the prime minister’s secretariat. They needed an economist. The executive assistant told me that I filled the bill. He mentioned that Zintun was highly impressed by my resume. Zintun was quite interested in interviewing me for the position.”

“But why did he send his executive assistant to contact you personally? He could have asked his office to ring you or inform you by an email about the interview as is done normally.”

“It occurred to me too. And on my asking the same question to the executive assistant, he gave me quite a plausible and convincing explanation. He mentioned that the economist’s post was in prime minister’s secretariat itself and it was quite a strategic post. The selected incumbent would be frequently required to work closely with the prime minister himself. He wanted young and fresh blood with super intelligence. He had interviewed many applicants in the past but none could impress him. When he saw my resume he knew that he had finally found a right person. So he wanted to communicate it to me not by an email or a phone call but by sending his emissary to me who could personally explain the things.”

“So you felt flattered?” Shakti asked.

“Obviously. I was flattered beyond any measure. That’s where I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was floating on cloud seven. I was already dreaming to become a world class economist.”

“So where did he take you?”

“The executive assistant escorted me to the private office of the prime minister. It was a lavish mansion. Prime minister’s chamber was located in its deep interior where it was impossible to enter without the prime minister’s authorization. The executive assistant handed me over to the private secretary of the prime minister - a good-looking female in her early thirties but with a somewhat melancholy demeanor.”

“Was there anyone else in the office?”

“None, only me and the secretary. She was expecting me. I saw my name on her appointments diary. She told me to wait just for two minutes and then an extraordinary thing happened. She whispered, ‘Go away, and don’t meet the prime minister.’ Then she slipped a very small piece of paper and asked me to deposit it in my purse. She asked me to see it later in my hostel room in case I still insisted in attending the interview.”

“Did you see what was written on the chit?”

“I could not read as I was called inside the prime minister’s chamber by this time. I did not heed to her advice at all and was determined to meet the prime minister to bag the coveted job. I wish I had listened to her advice.”

Shakti gave Minmin a glass of orange juice. He sensed she needed strength to tell him what happened next. Minmin drank some juice and spoke again, “That animal Zintun welcomed me like a gentleman. He requested me to make myself comfortable on an exquisite couch meant for his guests. He then offered me a glass of some fruit juice.

He started the interview in the right earnest. Within a few minutes I started to feel dizzy. It was the effect of that juice. Then Zintun made his lecherous advances. He raped me. I screamed and screamed and tried to fight him. I could not fight him off despite being a karate champion. My senses had been dulled. This could have been due to that drink I was given. I was a virgin and experienced severe pain. It wasn’t just the physical pain but also the pain that I was experiencing due to the worst kind of humiliation. I just could not save me.”

Shakti added, “But you couldn’t have resisted. You were powerless.”

“Yes, I felt totally powerless under the influence of the drug. I became totally lifeless. When I woke up I was in my bed in my hostel room. It was none of my fault yet I felt horribly violated. I could not eat or sleep or do anything. Yet I dragged myself to your class, I was determined to fight it out. I am generally a person of strong mind. But the trauma overtook my thinking abilities and I succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills. I keep a bottle of them in my purse.”

“I told you the rest,” Shakti added.

“Sir, I’m happy that I’m alive. Now I wish to fight it out.” 

“It’s not easy to fight with a Zintun kind of rogue. You already know the tales of his cruelty. If you wish to teach him a lesson, you will need to put your brain to real good use. You will have to think of a real foolproof plan to punish him.”

“I will like to go ahead with my revenge but as you say I will have to do it in a very systematic and foolproof manner. I am determined and I want that insect punished at the earliest. So I will work out a foolproof plan. Sir, though I will like to do it on my own can I confer with you occasionally in case I need your advice?” said Minmin.

“Sure,” Shakti confirmed. “The first immediate step will be to look into the paper that Zintun’s secretary gave you.”

Minmin opened her purse and searched for the piece of paper. She grappled with it and gave it to Shakti to examine.

Shakti studied the scribbling on the paper. He said, “Minmin, I think it is some kind of an address. The secretary seems to have given an address where you can reach her.”

“Will you please accompany me sir?”

“I will.”

The address the secretary gave was her home address. Her home was located in a remote corner of the capital city of Chinhut. She had a reason to live in such seclusion. When Shakti and Minmin met her at her residence and got properly introduced to each other she revealed, “That animal Zintun killed my interest and enthusiasm to live. That’s why I chose to live in this remote place where I can be alone. But I was a carefree girl in my village. However the poverty at home and compulsion of earning a decent salary to support my family brought me to this city. I did my secretarial course here. One day the executive assistant to Zintun saw me in the institute. He moves around the city to search for girls who are vulnerable types. The executive assistant’s main job is to act as a pimp for Zintun.”

“What do you mean by that?” Minmin asked.

“Though his designation is executive assistant, his primary job is to frequently procure girls and women for Zintun. Zintun is a bachelor and in habit of sleeping with only virgin girls from time to time. He is the most lecherous man I’ve ever seen. I was lured by the promise of a highly paid job of a private secretary and thus got trapped. I ultimately became a prey to Zintun’s lust. I got the job all right but I had to pay a heavy price for it. Now I die hundred times a day everyday.”

“That’s the reason you warned me. I was a real fool not to follow your hint. Had I heeded to your tipoff I wouldn’t be in the soup I’m in. Did you warn the other girls who went to Zintun before me?” Minmin queried.

“No, I was always afraid of Zintun. He is a very dangerous man. He would kill me if I were caught doing anything that he did not approve. But when I saw you in person I gathered courage. So I warned you and slipped that piece of paper to you. From your resume I knew that you were highly educated. When I met you I found that you displayed courage and determination. So I thought I could try to save you or rope you in my plan of taking revenge on Zintun if you do not heed the warning.”

Minmin got excited and corroborated, “We must punish him so hard that he would dare not repeat the heinous act.”

“But you cannot act in a spurt of an emotion. Both of you want revenge. May be some other girls who were also victims of Zintun might want to do the same. But my advice to both of you is to device a foolproof plan and execute it very carefully,” Shakti surmised.

Minmin and the secretary agreed with Shakti.

Then Shakti, Minmin, and the secretary conferred with each other for a long time. It was late evening when Shakti and Minmin left secretary’s home.

They finalized a plan.

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