It was a dark night. A young girl limped her way through a dense forest. She fought for her life with each ragged breath. Creatures of the night made intimidating noises all around her. But the voices in her head were louder.
“You like that don’t you? Say you like it bitch!” a man’s voice roared in her head.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you,” another man’s tearful voice rang in her ears.
“Don’t cry girl, you are a habitual slut, you just don’t know it…now open your legs and show me your used holes,” a third voice said softly with an evil laughter.
“I’m sorry, please forgive me,” a woman’s voice said.
The girl pressed her palms against her ears and screamed. “SHUT UP!” she yelled, “SHUT UP!”
And there was silence. The voices in her head stopped. And she could hear was the crickets. She continued to limp among the dense trees, trying to find her way in the pale moon light. Her white dress was torn and soaked in blood. It was torn obscenely at places and barely covered her body. Her dark hair hanging down her shoulders were matted and her lip bled. But her dark eyes were full of determination, and sparkled with a spirit to survive.
After what felt like an eternity, she reached a road. She hoped someone would stop by and help her. All that she could do was hope and muster all the strength she could and hold on. She felt aches and pain all over her body, and suddenly she felt a chill. The cold winds only added to her misery.
A long time passed by. The road was deserted and very few vehicles passed by. The ones that did, didn’t bother to stop. The girl was rapidly losing her strength. She collapsed to the ground out of sheer exhaustion. Just as her vision turned hazy, she felt raindrops on her face. The drizzle quickly turned into a downpour, and the girl was completely drenched. She knew she couldn’t survive much longer out in the cold.
And suddenly a car stopped by. A beautiful young woman rushed towards her. She shook the wounded girl gently and asked, “Hey, are you OK?”
“Help me please,” the girl gasped.
The woman helped the girl to her feet and helped her get into her car. The girl was barely conscious.
“My name is Mithila,” the woman said, “I am a doctor. What’s your name?”
“I don’t know…” the girl muttered.
“There’s so much blood on your dress,” Mithila said as she started driving the car, “What happened sweetheart?”
“I don’t remember…” the girl said becoming increasingly agitated. She was shivering in cold and drew her arms and legs closer. Mithila put a warm shawl around her and turned on the car’s heater.
Mithila looked at her carefully. “Have you been using drugs?”
“I’m in so much pain…I just wanna sleep…I want this to stop…I want these voices to go away….I just…I don’t know…” the girl whispered some incoherent sentences rubbing her arms.
“It’s alright girl,” Mithila said, “I’m taking you to a hospital, you are going to be okay.”
The girl’s eyes were glazed over, her gaze was blank. Soon they reached a hospital, and trained health care staff began to tend to the wounds. Mithila was a psychiatrist. She had called upon her colleague Dr. Ayesha who was a gynecologist to assess the girl’s condition.
“I am Dr. Mithila and I am a psychiatrist,” Mithila said formally introducing herself, “Since you appear to have gone through some trauma, I’m admitting you to this hospital under my care. My colleague Dr. Ayesha is a gynecologist and will treat you for your injuries,” Mithila said, “It is my duty to ask, do you want to report anything to the police? Cleaning you up could destroy important evidence.”
The girl just shook her head.
“Draw a blood sample as send it for dope test,” Mithila ordered the nurse, “Looks like she is on some opioids.”
The nurse nodded and drew a blood sample.
“We are going to put you to sleep for a while, so that you don’t feel any pain,” Dr. Ayesha said comforting the trembling girl.
The girl smiled weakly as Dr. Ayesha injected a sedative into her veins. Within minutes the girl fell into a deep sleep. The nurse took of the girl’s blood-soaked clothes. There were several minor flesh wounds on her body. There were bite marks and scratches all over her, some old, some recent. There were injuries on her feet as she had been running barefoot through the forest, that’s why she had been limping. But what shocked the medical staff was the tattoos on her body. Across her breasts was written “Whore” and another tattoo just above her pussy that read “Cock hungry hole” with an arrow pointing towards her pussy. As they turned her over, they found another tattoo on her ass that read, “Horny bitch.”
Mithila was visibly disturbed seeing the tattoos. “This seems like permanent ink” she gasped.
“That’s really cruel!” Dr. Ayesha said, “Poor girl!”
“How is her general condition, Ayesha?” Mithila asked.
“She has been drugged for sure,” Ayesha said, “and she has indulged in recent sexual activity. It is hard to say whether it was forced or consensual because there are no injuries on her genitals. In fact, there are hardly any fresh injuries, few minor wounds that will heal in a day or two.”
Mithila was relieved to know that the girl was not seriously injured.
“However,” Ayesha said, “There are some old scars. These kinda scars would usually result from regular torture. There are signs of previous childbirth. Lemme do a quick ultrasound.”
Ayesha held an ultrasound probe over her belly and frowned, “This does not look good. Her uterus is almost dysfunctional. Looks like a badly done abortion, but she might never conceive again.”
Mithila felt a pinch in her heart as she realized the implications of what Ayesha said.
“This is a very sensitive case Mithila,” Ayesha said, “This girl seems to have gone through some very significant trauma, I trust you would know how to handle this.”
“I’ll take care of her Ayesha,” she lovingly touching the girl’s hair.
As Ayesha finished dressing all the girl’s wounds, Dr. Mithila instructed the nurse, “I want you to cover up these tattoos with bandages. Say nothing to her about the tattoos. She is in a vulnerable state of mind and the sight of these tattoos could...destabilize her.”
The nursed nodded in approval and covered up her tattoos and dressed her up in a clean gown. Mithila wrote down orders for further medications. The nurses got the still sedated girl shifted to a private ward where she could rest undisturbed. Mithila wanted to leave, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. Her heart was sad, and she shuddered at the thought of what all the girl must have been through. She sat down quietly next to the girl, closed her eyes, trying to pray for her quick recovery.
Mithila held the sleeping girl's delicate palm in her hand and looked at her fondly. The girl was almost had a small and slender frame, and a wheatish brown complexion. She had large innocent eyes and dark hair hanging down her shoulders. Mithila lovingly ran her fingers through the girl's hair.
Mithila's husband Anshul was also a doctor and worked in the same hospital. He entered the ward and found his wife sitting next to the sleeping girl looking visibly disturbed.
“Are you OK honey?” He asked in a worried tone, “I thought you left. I was hoping you’d be home by now.”
“I was going home,” Mithila said, “And I found this girl on the road. She was…I had to help her or she wouldn’t have survived.”
“Who is she?” he asked.
“She doesn’t remember,” Mithila said, “But she’s been through something awful…”
Mithila couldn’t hold back her tears as she gently rolled the sleeve of the sleeping girl’s gown and said, “Look at these needle marks, they’ve been pumping her with dope…and this…” Mithila slowly raised the girl’s gown and peeled off an edge of that cover up bandage to show the degrading tattoos to her husband. “Permanent ink!” she said, “Such monsters! She is so young…she must be what? 20?”
Anshul hugged his agitated wife and gently rubbed her back. “I understand how this makes you feel honey,” he said wiping off her tears with his thumbs, “You are sweet and brave to have helped her. She is going to be OK now, because she has you taking care of her.”
Mithila could speak no more. She hugged her husband tightly and wept.
Mithila chose to stay by her bedside till morning. In the morning, the girl woke up, feeling much better and calmer.
Mithila smiled at her and ran her fingers through her dark hair. “Good morning sweetie,” Mithila said with a smile, “It’s nice to see you smiling. How are you feeling?”
“Much better,” the girl said, “Thank you so much for your help.”
“Are you hungry?” Mithila asked.
The girl nodded and Mithila got her a sandwich and a coffee. Mithila sat next to her watching her eat. She had so many questions for her, but refrained from asking anything as she was afraid, the girl might get upset again.
“I really wish I knew your name sweetie, or maybe something about your family. I’m sure they’ll be looking for you. Do you remember anything at all?” Mithila asked.
“I’m sorry I don’t,” the girl said with a sad face.
“That’s alright,” Mithila said, “You just need to rest, everything is going to fall in place eventually.”
“What are these?” the girl asked pointing towards the bandages.
“Nothing to worry about,” Mithila said casually, “Just some little wounds that we stitched up. We’ll leave the bandages on for a couple of days and then you are good to go.”
The girl smiled. “Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me,” she said.
“You are going to be ok,” Mithila said hugging her, “I’m always there for you.”
The girl hugged back. Mithila left the room, leaving her alone to rest. The girl smiled as she looked out of the window. The beautiful shining sun, the chirping birds and the city alive and buzzing around the hospital. She felt free after a long time. She gazed out of the window, enjoying the view of a free world to her heart’s content. She tried to think about her family, her home. She wanted to remember as soon as possible so that she could go home.
After sometime, she got back onto her bed and closed her eyes. Suddenly a vision hit her. She was locked inside a dark place. She could barely move. It was pitch dark; she couldn’t see a thing. She could barely breathe. She wanted to scream, but she hadn’t the strength. Feelings of helplessness overwhelmed her, there was nothing she could do. She drifted off to sleep. And then there was a sudden jerk. She woke up with a jolt. But she was still in the dark place, unable to move, unable to speak. For a moment she felt she was dead. But then she could feel her own breath. She felt the she was gently rocking, like floating in space. She wept silently, and slept again. This happened over and over again, she felt like she was trapped forever in this dark place.
And then she saw beams on light seeping in. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized she was trapped in a crate. She heard voices, there were people around her. And suddenly a lot of light flooded her eyes. Someone had opened the crate. She was nearly blinded by the sudden daylight after spending forever in darkness. A familiar face was smiling at her. A handsome young man, tall and fair, with beautiful hazel eyes. He looked weary and tired, but his face was gleaming with the joy of seeing her. He helped her out of the crate and hugged her.
“Meera,” he said, “We made it, we are free!”
The girl gave him a blank look. The long hours spent in darkness had affected her mentally.
“Hey, it’s me, Kabir,” he said, “Don’t be afraid, we are safe now.”
“Kabir…” she said, “I was so afraid, I thought I was going to die…”
“You are a tough girl Meera,” he said hugging her tightly.
Suddenly someone grabbed her hair from behind. “Tough girl needs one cock in each hole,” a man said as he dragged her away from Kabir.
“NO!” she screamed, “Let me go!”
Another man stepped in between and hit Kabir on the head instantly cracking open his skull and killing him on the spot.
The girl screamed hysterically as a group of men laughed as they held her tight while their leader loaded a syringe. “Once I put this thing in you, you will want to fuck every man in the world like a bitch in heat.”
************
The girl suddenly woke up from her sleep screaming wildly. She was sweating and trembling and extremely agitated. The nursed rushed to her room and injected a sedative in her vein and immediately called Dr. Mithila.
Mithila rushed towards the terrified girl and hugged her till she calmed down.
“I think my name is Meera,” she said.
“That’s a sweet name Meera,” Mithila said fondling her hair, “Did you have a bad dream Meera?”
“Dream or memory, I don’t know,” Meera said tearfully, “Or maybe just some made up shit from my fucked-up head.”
“It’s alright Meera,” Mithila said reassuringly holding her hand, “Whatever it may have been, you are safe now, and no one can hurt you, alright? And we will figure this out together.”
Meera nodded her head.
“Good, now tell me what did you see?” Mithila asked.
“I was locked up in a crate for a long time…” Meera said.
“A crate?” Mithila asked.
“Yes, and it was dark and I couldn’t breathe…and finally one man opened the crate. He looked familiar; he had these beautiful hazel eyes and he seemed to care about me. He hugged me; he was trying to comfort me, his accent was...different, had an Arabic touch to it…he said his name was Kabir.”
“Do you recognize this man?” Mithila asked, “Is he related to you? He is your family?”
“I don’t know…” Meera said, “But in his eyes, I saw…he really seemed to care about me…but then they killed him…”
“Who killed him?” Mithila asked.
“Some bad guys,” she said, “Their faces looked familiar but I don’t remember their names. They killed him and took me away. They wanted to…rape me. They injected something in me…and I don’t remember anything after that.”
Meera began to weep bitterly. Mithila hugged her and helped her calm down.
“Try to remember something more about Kabir, like his full name, what he did for a living. Maybe we would be able to find your family this way. Do you remember anything about where you lived?”
“I told you all that I could recall…” Meera said wiping tears from her eyes, “Sometimes I wish I really didn’t have to remember at all…I wish I could start my life afresh, like a clean slate...I wish I had no memory at all about my past…because all that I can remember are…bad things…”
