I put the house keys in my handbag, check if I have some money, grab my phone and leave a note for Sid saying I’d be back soon. Or at least I hope I’ll be back soon, police stations are completely out of my territory. Ragini knows how to—but there is no point thinking about her. She doesn’t want to talk to me. She hasn’t responded to the three text messages I’ve sent her since that night.

I pay the auto driver and we get off outside the Vasant Kunj police station. I notice a couple of scooters in the parking lot but no police vehicles. There are the usual hawkers around the station. One man runs a makeshift cigarette shop from a basket loaded behind his bicycle, another man has a tea stall on a push cart, there’s even a woman with a huge basket full of steel and plastic utensils on her head. I know she is one of many women who go door-to-door exchanging old clothes for some cash and new utensils but I have no idea why she is at the police station.

There are some other men who seem to be just standing around. The centrepieces at the station, though, are four cows and one calf sitting inside the compound. I am terrified of cows and look around to see if I can ask someone to move them. But no one seems to have realized that there are cows in the police station and, feeling a bit foolish, I don’t say anything either.

We go around the cows and enter the police station. The interior is very dark, probably a power cut. There are a couple of constables sitting at a table filling out a register and another constable—I can’t see his rank—fills his cup from the water cooler. None of them have thought of opening any windows. At the farthest corner from the door, next to the water cooler, is a bench. Mini is sitting on it.

Mini sits like a statue, her back is straight and her head bent low. The policeman drinks from his cup noisily and sighs in satisfaction once he finishes.

‘Paani peeyogi?’ He asks if anyone would like some water without really looking at anyone. No one answers.

‘Kya naam hai tumhara?’ This time, when he asks for a name, he looks at Mini.

‘Arre I’m asking you something, na?’ he says and takes a couple of steps towards Mini.

Mini looks up at him and from the tilt of her head I can tell she is not scared of this man. But before she can answer him, Mini sees us and stands up with a jerk. The man hastily steps backwards.

‘Arre what you doing?’ he asks, alarmed.

‘Namaste didi,’ Mini says walking towards us, but stops when she reaches the man.