As he entered the station, Madhav saw a slim figure near the front desk.

‘Meera?’ he uttered in surprise. She refused to look at him.

A senior officer called them into his office and asked everyone to sit. Madhav stood motionless. They didn’t handcuff or beat him; they only surrounded him with grim looks on their faces.

‘Yes, madam, tell me,’ the senior officer said. He had a dignified and firm voice. His badge read Mahavir Singh and he was the station house officer.

Before Meera could speak, a lady constable said to the SHO, ‘Please see the report, sir. She has not filed an FIR yet.’

‘Ms Meera,’ the officer adjusted his glasses and continued, ‘you have reported an incident of molestation. Mr Madhav broke into your house and forcefully ill-treated you and when you objected to his behaviour, he became angry and sexually abused you and even attempted to rape you.’

Meera nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘Broke into the house? Rape?’ Madhav repeated. ‘Meera, why are you doing this?’

‘Because of what you did last night,’ she said, still refusing to look at him.

‘But I don’t remember anything. The last thing I remember is coming over,’ he said.

‘Don’t worry, we will get it out of you,’ the inspector said with a menacing expression.

Meera’s phone rang and she excused herself. The atmosphere in the room immediately became tenser as the officers glared at him. Madhav counted the minutes until Meera returned.

She had left the room to answer a call from an unknown number. ‘Hello, who’s this?’ she asked.

‘It’s Radhika.’

‘Why the hell are you calling me? I don’t want to talk to you.’

‘Meera, wait! Just hear me out for a minute,’ Radhika pleaded with her. She knew it was a difficult time for her, but she had to try for Madhav’s sake.

‘I don’t want to listen to anything. I cannot take his insanity any more.’

‘He needs to get proper help for his issues. If you file a false case, things will only get worse for him and his family. Please just give him a chance to get better; you don’t have to deal with his problems any more. I promise I’ll help him.’

‘Oh yes, of course! That’s what you want, Radhika. You want me to leave him so you can have him all to yourself. Don’t worry. I am leaving him and I bet you will also leave this sick man in no time. I shouldn’t have taken him to your crappy art therapy class. But I refuse to let him go unpunished.’

‘I know what happened was absolutely unacceptable, and that he should be punished. But the thing is, he is already being punished every day. He says he doesn’t remember anything and I know he is not lying,’ Radhika said. ‘You know the truth, Meera. Only you know if he actually tried to rape you. I would simply request you to drop the charges if they are false. If Madhav did sexually abuse you, I promise you that I will stand by you and together we will make sure that he is punished. But if he’s innocent, then I want you to come forward and save him because he is already suffering. I leave the decision to you.’