“Who will bring up this infant?”
Everybody is whispering each other. The oldest man in the gathering, at last breaking the silence, points at a middle-aged, half-white bearded person and asks him showing much boredom on his face and simultaneously with a quite suspicious eye about the identity of its parents.
An entire serenity and silence is growing quickly among the crowd after the old man’s inquiry.
All, irrespective of male and female, young and old, remain silent. They are looking at each other out of sheer curiosity.
All on a sudden, the wretched dumb, nearly twenty two years old, Bidogdho appears amidst the gathering.
She cannot talk from her birth. Her parents always keep a watchful eye over her. They remain anxious not only about her physical disabilities but also for her flawless beauty. The wicked young boys of the locality often try to seduce her; but cannot dare to go forward. They only fear about the eldest son Pothbhrosto of the local influential politician Batpari Mohajon.
Pothbhrosto has warned all of the wicked boys threatening them that if anyone tries to establish an unfair affair with Bidogdho, they will be beaten and driven out from the locality. Hence no one dares to do any mischief to her.
Pothbhrosto has hit upon an evil plan about molesting Bidogdho much earlier. He is the son of an economically affluent and politically powerful family. His father Batpari Mohajon controls the politics of this locality. All of this locality are bound to show respect to him. Nobody possesses the courage to defy or to challenge him.
Pothbhrosto knows it very well that Bidogdho’s mother Nirupai Banu works as a maid servant in their house. She comes to their house early in the morning, works hard for hours and leaves in the late afternoon. Sometimes she gets something to eat from their house; otherwise she starves the whole day. Bidogdho stays at home and waits eagerly for her mother’s returning home.
Pothbhrosto cherishes the hidden desire to enjoy her for a long period. Nowadays he feels losing his control over her. He can no longer tolerate it that he cannot still establish a sexual relationship with Bidogdho.
One morning Nirupai Banu becomes sick suddenly. She faints and loses her sense several times. At present her health is not strong enough to continue hard labor. But she does not have any alternative without working like a machine. Her health is breaking down.
Hearing this from a little boy Choton of their neighbors, Pothbhrosto, accompanied by his two friends, hurries up to reach the hapless maid’s house and manages to send her to the local hospital. Bidogdho now stays at home alone. She is crying much loudly for her mother.
Her mother Nirupai Banu is the only person on this earth who takes care of her. Her father Amulla Sarkar has given up the ghost a decade earlier. She has no other brother or sister. Their miseries might close here; but no. Her paternal uncles Khadok Shanda and Petuk Panda and their sons have forced Nirupai Banu and Bidogdho to leave their home and property. They have driven them away and grasped their house and land.
Therefore, they take shelter here like a slum dweller on this government-allocated, tin-shaded, tiny and shabby houses. Their house is almost half a kilometer away from Pothbhrosto’s house.
Pothbhrosto comes and enters Bidogdho’s room quickly. Finding her alone crying in the room, he shuts up the door as quickly as possible. Seeing him shutting up the door, she tries to produce her usual sound expressing to know what he wants to get from her. Stopped by him, she is arrested by utmost fear and panic. Pothbhrosto feels excessively excited; he is trembling; he now cannot breathe normally; rather he is supposed to take long breaths!
He is now not ready to waste even a little while to fulfill his lust through raping this helpless wretched but fully bloomed virgin. Bidogdho tries to open the door so that she can get escaped from this lascivious satan. But fortune is not ready at all to smile upon her.
“Lie on the bed,” Pothbhrosto tries to make her understand through gestures, but she firmly disagrees to respond to him. She moves her head expressing negation.
Pothbhrosto puts off his clothes rapidly and looks outside with a most pensive mood through the broken window to find whether there is anyone present there. His evil spirits leap up with ecstatic joy finding no person present there.
Bidogdho is growling mildly on the bed as her mouth is kept close by a strong piece of cloth. Pothbhrosto, after raping her about half an hour, thinks himself to be one of the most influential conquerors in this world. He is about to leave the place safely. But alas! That little boy appears there through the broken window.
“Get out, scoundrel,” Pothbhrosto becomes tremendously angry to him.
“I won’t leave until I know why she is bleeding and crying on the bed.”
Telling this to him Choton runs away fast towards home. He tells his parents about what he has seen there.
Pothbhrosto quickly leaves the spot and goes directly to the local bazaar “Kheyaghat” where he will meet his friends and seek their assistance if necessary.
Choton’s parents rush towards Bidogdho’s house. They are shouting madly, censuring Pothbhrosto for his devil-like wrong doing and trying to console her. Soon some people have gathered on the spot; but no one dares to inform the police.
On the following day Nirupai Banu comes back home from the hospital, faints again and again to find her wretched daughter, slaps her forehead as if it would be better if the forehead is no more! The people are trying to pacify her, but all their efforts become futile.
In the meantime, asked by an unknown person, the police have appeared there. They take Bidogdho to hospital to complete her medical test and file a rape case against Pothbhrosto.
On the other hand Batpari Mohajon tries to manage the police through offering a large amount of bribe. But his efforts end in smoke since the officer-in -charge of the police possesses a fair and uncompromising personality about corruption and taking bribes.
The ever smiling face of the officer-in-charge has turned into violently red, he is trembling a bit thinking the misfortunes of this distressed raped girl. He tells Batpari Mohajon straight forward,
“Your son has committed a blunder; he must be placed in the hands of law, he can never expect any mercy from me.”
Batpari Mohajon returns home with a gloomy and pensive mood. He is entirely in a fix what to do; how he will save his wicked son’s life. He will be hanged if his guilt is proved before the court. Mohajon cannot even eat and sleep properly; he into fallen into sickness and his health has broken down.
Five months pass away. On the other hand, Bidogdho becomes pregnant; Mohajon has tried his level best to convince Nirupai Banu to compromise the issue. He has offered her a huge amount of money, requests her repeatedly for abortion. But his no effort sees the light of success. Pondering all these uncomfortable issues, Mohajon is about to die.
Finding no other way, Batpari Mohajon now looks at the upcoming election. If the incumbent regime changes through the election, his supporting party will take the office. He hopes that he will anyhow manage the administration for releasing his son. The newly elected government comes into power after the election is held six months later.
In the meanwhile, Bidogdho gives birth to a sweet baby; names it Bidrohi (rebel) in the hope that one day this little Bidrohi will grow older and take the revenge of the oppressions bestowed upon them.
Batpari’s hopes and endeavors, at length, become fulfilled and he feels as much relaxed as a debt-stricken poor landless farmer feels after getting relieved from his debt. His party contributes a lot to save his son’s life. The ministry on home affairs issues an order to the local police station to discharge Pothbhrosto’s case as it were it was such a case which had been filed against him in order to suppress him politically.
The case of raping against Pothbhrosto has been discharged!
Pothbhrosto comes back home from an unknown place nearly after one year. Many people have gathered in the yard of their house. Some young boys are waiting for him since this morning holding a bouquet of flowers in their hands. They feel excited getting him and without any delay they make Pothbhrosto wear the garland!
Pothbhrosto is smiling as if he were as great a conqueror as Alexander the great was!
His parents are weeping silently, putting their affection-mixed kisses upon his face and forehead repeatedly. Pothbhrosto hugs and assures them that no one on this earth can make any mischief to them. The other men and women are observing and thinking gravely; how much powerful they are! How effectively the powerful hands of politics have raised their support to them! They become speechless for a while thinking about the reward of politics!
A few people have also been present before the hut of Nirupai Banu and Bidogdho. They are not as much strong as to protest this sheer injustice; they remain silent; some lose their control to prevent their eyes from shedding tears. Their faces are like faded and torn leaves of trees in winter. Before leaving the hut, they only utter a sentence out of their utter grief and hoplessness; but of their firm belief that one day Allah will punish those culprits.
The End
by Sk. Ahammed Sharif
