Studies? Boring eh? Yes you are right! Very boring. Specially, when your entire family is out for a party and you are left all alone at your study table to revise those terms of dental science which always make your mind go numb.

As usual, I was surrounded by my textbooks. My mind was wheeling with the pressure of my books. Suddenly I heard a scream. My eyes widened, and I did a quick scan of my surroundings.  I was alone at home and hence scared.  I got up from the chair & walked towards the balcony. The confusion in my mind reflected on my face; nose and forehead scrunched up, eyebrows raised and lips puckered together. I moved towards the direction of the voice. Multitude of thoughts clouded my mind. My mother did warn me not to pay heed to any noises I listen & in no case open the doors & windows, still I tried to act brave and opened the window, trying not to make any sound and peeped.

It was dark outside. The cold winter wind made it chillier, the night was beautiful with the twinkling stars lighting up the sky and the moon following every traveller as a faithful companion. No one could be seen from that little narrow opening of my window but then that voice; that scream hit me again. It was a female voice. I tried hard to look through the dark and saw two men forcibly taking a girl, probably to the end of the lane. Although the faces were not visible, I saw the colour of her duppatta which was wrapped around the first man's arm which she seemed to snatch again and again. Every time she tried to set herself free, the grip seemed to get tighter. Slowly the night engulfed them and I could only hear her screams.

She continuously pleaded to leave her, let her go. She even reminded them of their mothers and sisters at home but those men seemed to be beyond any feelings. Nothing made their hearts melt. At last when she could think of no other way, she screamed for help; her voice was loud enough but surprisingly no one came forward to help. I could feel her helplessness, I wished to go, help her, relieve her of the pain, free her from the agony but my feet refused to move even an inch. My fear engulfed me and even her screams couldn’t make me get out of that. I held my hand onto my mouth, to stop my sobs. I remained a silent witness of that girl's heart-piercing screams. She definitely tried to fight back but her efforts were not enough for those greedy men who just couldn't keep it in their pants. I was too scared and probably shivering badly by the time I noticed it.

I don't know for how long she screamed but it eventually stopped around dawn. I did not sleep. The entire night was spent in horror & the first thing I did was to run and open the balcony door, there of course was nothing but that guilt feeling made me stand there for a long time. I could hear people talk about the noises they heard.

I was wondering how spineless these people were. They can stand and talk but when that innocent girl needed help, no one had the courage to even open the door. I know they are cowards and all they will ultimately do is blame the girl, question her clothing, her late night venture, every single thing other than pointing on those perverts.

I don’t know who gives them the authority to violate a girl’s personal space. Why should it be a topic of discussion? No one wanted to help the girl when they could but now they will pity her; they will act as if they were so sorry for what happened. I know they do not understand what she went through and will probably go through.

A sudden voice snapped me out of my thoughts, it was the name of the girl.  I immediately ran to take my keys, wore my sandals & headed to her house to talk to her & help her in any way I could. I knew I was late but as they say *better late than never*. I wanted to apologize and prove as an example to the elders standing there and just talking rather than finding the one responsible for it. I reached her house but I had never imagined what I saw there. The family members sat and discussed about the matter. They wanted it to stay hidden and marry her off as soon as possible. They had not even reported it to the police because they did not want their reputation to go down in society; because they did not want their daughter to be a topic of conversation. Not even for once did they think about the girl who sat numb, staring in the darkness; devastated and destroyed!

That was the moment when I got my reason of living. I decided to help her; to be her voice which will be heard in the entire nation; to be a slap on the face of those men who treat women as an object; to be her will power which she required for justice; to be her strength whenever she feels weak and then against the will of her family and even my family, I held her hand & moved towards the police station to report about the crime. I wanted to put those criminals behind the bars so that none of my innocent sisters fall prey to those greedy eyes from now!