WHO IS THE REAL VICTIM?

17th JAN, 2017; 8.10 P.M.

With his investigation, Shiv now had everything to confront Pooja, he could have directly arrested her but he wanted to know her side of the story. The 18 minute blank in the CCTV footage was making him anxious; he was suspecting a foul play between those 18 minutes but nothing stood its ground until he heard Pooja. He ordered the lady constables to get the girl to the interrogation room, while he calmly waited on his chair thinking of all the questions he had to ask her. As Pooja entered the room, Shiv stood up saying,

Rathod: Oh, so you are here! Pleased to meet you again!.... Please take a seat!

Pooja (While sitting on the chair): What's wrong with you guys?! I have given my statement three times already, why am I still here? I asked those lady constables that 'can I go home?' They kept saying that there were more questions left to be asked. If there were any questions you should have asked them till now, why make me wait for four hours? If this is how you people treat anyone who is trying to help, then I know why no one keeps any faith in you guys! And why am I the only person to wait so long? I mean I saw you interviewing more than 20 people in the last few hours, why am I being treated this way? Is it because I am a girl? Is it because I am young compared to many people here, if that's the case that's very unfair of you, I mean I was helping you in solving this…

Rathod (cutting her sentence): I know you are lying!

Pooja: Sorry, what?

Rathod: I know you never saw Dhruv near my place!..... You talk about statements! You gave three statements and you have given three different dates of when you saw Dhruv.

Pooja (Nervously): I ..I…I guess I mess…. Messed up the date! That doesn't… me..me..mean anything!

Rathod: You should leave it up to me to decide if it means something or not!... I won't waste a lot of time asking stupid questions, I have been already exhausted by the hard work I did today. By that I also mean, I have very little patience left in me, so I would like it if you tell the truth this time!.... I know you will say it's Dhruv who killed Vikram, but just to make things crystal clear, the last time he met Vikram was on 13th January... And I also know that the whole 'seeing him near my house' thing is a lie! After finding that out, I did a little work on my son's case and you know what dear? I found the killer!

Pooja: Tha.. that's great!

Rathod: You are a bad liar girl! Every time you lie, you stutter! You need to stop that if all you are going to do is lie.

Pooja: I di… did not ki… kill Vikram!

Rathod: I did not say you did! And please stop stuttering if you want me to believe you! Maybe it's because you are nervous but believe me, it's not helping in making you seem innocent. And as you have brought the topic up, I would like to address it! We checked everything, we found that you were the last person to visit my son, his call record suggests that you were the last person to talk to him. In fact, you both have talked quite a lot in this past week.

Pooja: That's because...

Rathod(cutting her sentence): I haven't finished talking dear! Patience! So I was saying that I also know that you both were in a relationship, broke up a few months ago, and he was blackmailing you after that!... I know you did it, I just want to know one thing,…. When I checked the CCTV footage I saw you were walking a bit weird, even when you entered the room a while ago you weren't walking properly, you took a little time to get yourself seated, tell me what's the problem?

Pooja: I.. I… I am having… my period.. cramps!

Rathod: You need to work on that mouth of yours!.... I know you might be thinking that telling me the truth will be a wrong thing to do, I mean I am Vikram's father after all! I am the last person to be believed with truth. But that's not right! I want to help you, and that's only possible if you tell me the whole truth! What was he getting in return apart from his relationship while he was blackmailing you? Why were you walking awkwardly when you were leaving the house? Were you…

Pooja (Crying): RAPED? Is that what you want to ask? Hmm? Then your answer is,... YES!! (Shouts) I WAS RAPED BY YOUR SON!!.. Does that bring any relief to your heart, sir?... What he wanted in return when I didn't agree to get back with him was sex! …. I… I never agreed! I went there… just so that I could convince him. But he.. he.. he wasn't convinced! I tried,… I tried a lot! And when he didn't agree I tried to leave the place, and he…..he pushed me on the couch, he forced me! I struggled, tried to get him off me, but what a monster you gave birth to! He overpowered me, he pulled down the... pants I was wearing. My hands were free so tried to get up and push him, he was strong... very strong! He punched me in my stomach and rolled me over. The pain was unbearable still I tried to resist, he then removed his shirt and tied my hands back. I still tried, he.. he kept hitting me, and a point came where I just couldn't take it and I shouted! He stuffed something up my throat, I still don't know what it was. And when he made sure I couldn't move and neither could I scream, he took his pants off and started thrusting.

Rathod: I guess that's enough, you don't have to...

Pooja(cutting his sentence): I haven't finished talking sir! Patience! Huh, can't hear his crimes or can't take the embarrassment, what is it?... I remember him telling me how much he loved me once, but at that moment,... there was no love, there was nothing, I was nothing! Just a piece of flesh he wanted! He was brutal, he just wouldn't...STOP!!.. (Cries out loud)

The truth was here. A truth that no one expected and no one wanted. For Shiv, this was the moment of bewilderment. The girl's cry was shattering him into pieces, he just knew right then that everything about the girl he saw a while ago was just pretending. An act to hide her pain, an act to hide her fear, an act to protect herself, an act to run away from the truth, the truth she feared the most. But that day there was one more who was pretending, pretending to be strong enough to take whatever he found out. Whereas at this point he was just as irreparably broken as the girl that was raped a day ago. Maybe also deserved to cry like her that day. Maybe!