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Child Brides of India
By C. Stanton Leman
Chapter 18: Absolution (Mg, rom, prost, no sex)
After performing our morning duties quietly, we went
downstairs to breakfast. I made a detour to the study, and
opened Haseeba's file. I retrieved her father's name and
address, and then went to the dining room.
In front of my parents, I showed Priya the information
and
told her, "I'll go see her father this morning after I drop
you girls at school. I'll try to find out which brothel he
sold her to. If I get the information I need, I'll call you
and we'll go get her together, is that satisfactory with
you?"
"Thank you Sean," she said with tears in her
eyes, "The
sooner we make this right, the sooner we can get on with
our lives."
Mom said, "I think this is the right thing to do,
Priya and
I am really proud that you're not going to leave her like
this."
Dad scoffed and said, "I'd let her rot."
Priya laid her hand on his and said, "Father, Allah
will
forgive and bless me for my atonement, and we shall be
better for it."
Looking at her, he replied, "Maybe you're
right."
We finished breakfast and Dad headed off for the office,
while we got ready to leave. Mom kissed Priya and said,
"Everything will be alright, have faith."
Turning to leave, Priya said, 'I do Mom, I do."
After picking up Sarah, the two sisters talked quietly
on
the way to school while I contemplated what the day might
bring. I dropped the girls off at school and headed for
Radj's office.
When I gave the limo driver the address, he said that it
was in a seedy part of the city. I told him to just drive.
Arriving at his office in a dilapidated, rundown tenement
building, Nanda Radj was sitting in a filthy office
cluttered with stacks of paper behind an old, weatherworn
wooden desk. When he saw me enter in a neat, pressed
business suit, he rose, wiped his hand on his shirt and
stuck out his hand.
He was a fat, sweaty and dirty man with balding wavy
hair
that looked greasy. There were two grease balls in the room
that probably did his dirty work, and I wondered which one
had slit Radj's son's throat. I shook his hand and offered
my salaams. He offered a seat and as I sat, he asked me if
I was interested in buying one of his properties.
I politely declined, and said to him, "I'm here
about your
daughter."
He looked at me with shock, at first, and then with a
perfunctory look said, "What daughter? I have no daughter."
"Alright then," I began again, "I'm here
to find out where
I might locate a girl named Haseeba. I've heard she was
sold to a brothel, and I'd like to find her. I heard you
might be able to help me."
Leaning over the pile of papers on his desk in an
aggressive manner, he said, "And why would you want to find
a certain whore named Haseeba? There are thousands in New
Delhi, why her?"
"Let's just say we have unfinished business,"
I replied.
"And what would this information be worth? Perhaps
a
finder's fee?" He asked.
"Why yes," I replied and I reached into my
pocket, pulled a
roll of bills and counted out ten 100 rupee notes (about
$22.50 US) as he counted with me and I held it up.
"How much was she sold for?" I asked him.
"Well," he started, "I don't know for
certain, but I heard
she was bought for 100 rupees."
"Where can I find her?" I asked.
"I heard she works down on G. B. Road in a brothel
owned by
a woman named Ramya."
As he started to reach across and take the money, I
pulled
my hand back and warned him, "If your information isn't
reliable, I'll be back for this." I then handed him the
money.
While thumbing the money, he looked at me and said,
"Oh
she'll be there, alright.'
I stood for a moment and let him and his goons get a
look
at my 6-foot frame and said my salaams politely before
turning to leave.
When I got in the car, I looked at my watch: eleven am.
I
knew Priya had lunch period at twelve-thirty, that gave me
enough time to go by the office, pick up a security guard
and still pick Priya up at lunchtime. She'd only miss a
half-day. I told the driver to head to the office. I called
the school and got Priya excused from her afternoon
classes. I waited until eleven forty-five to call Priya,
knowing that she'd be in between classes, and told her to
go to the office and pick up her release slip from school
and meet me out front at twelve-thirty.
After picking up the biggest, meanest looking guard on
duty, I left to pick up Priya. When I got to school, she
was just coming out the front doors.
Priya looked surprised when she got in the car and saw
this
monster of a guy sitting here. I told her we were going to
a dangerous area and that I wanted to both get in and get
out again without trouble. She just nodded in agreement
while looking at this smiling giant. I told the driver to
take us to the red light district on G. B. Road, and then
we left to get Haseeba.
Calling the G. B. Road area a slum is being merciful! It
was filthy with garbage everywhere and raw sewage running
down the middle of the street. There were barkers outside
ramshackle flophouses barking their wares: from 'innocent,
virgin' girl children to the Kamasutra specialists, in full
view of the police. We began asking around for Ramya's
place with no results. Our guard told Priya that they
thought we might be the authorities from the government I
had Priya talk to a policeman and tell him that Haseeba was
her cousin and we wanted to find her. I slipped him a
fifty-rupee note, and he pointed out our destination.
We went inside and nearly fell over from the stench!
Priya
asked for Ramya, and an old, fat, wrinkled toothless woman
emerged smiling and asked what our pleasure was.
With Priya translating, I asked the woman if she had a
girl
working there by the name of Haseeba. She replied that she
was new and fresh and very nasty, and that she was very
compliant and aimed to please. I told the woman I know she
paid 100 rupees for her and I would give her 1000 rupees to
buy the girl.
The woman looked at me in shock, licked her bottom lip
and
slowly smiled. I counted out the bills and asked her to
take us to her. We walked down a dimly lit hallway passing
closet-sized cubicles that displayed girls from about five
on up, some had dogs and monkeys lying with them on mats.
She led us downstairs to a damp, wet cellar, silently
pointed to a corner cubical, turned and left.
When we pushed the curtain open. There, lying nude on a
plastic covered mat, was Haseeba next to a half filled
bucket of water. The lighting was very dim but we could see
she looked as though she hadn't had a bath since she'd got
here and was covered in the filth she was lying in. The
closet-sized room reeked of urine and feces, and she
appeared to have bruises on her arms, shoulders, legs and
sides. In just a few short weeks, she wasn't even
recognizable as the girl I first saw on those school steps.
Priya immediately began heaving, ran to the bucket and
threw up. I simply started to cry at the sight.
Haseeba looked up in a daze, shocked at seeing us at
first,
and then looked down and away. Thinking we came to gloat,
and knowing what her lot in life was now, she looked up and
said with a forced sultry smile, "I am the house shit
whore, did you come to feed me?"
Priya, now crying, kissed Haseeba's dirty face and
softly
said, "I've come to take you away from all this and back to
your life."
Convinced she was only worth what she was forced to
endure,
she cried, "This is my life, no one can save me now."
Priya took her hand to pull her to her feet, but Haseeba
pulled back and said, "You've had your look, now go!"
Priya grabbed her hand again and kneeling down beside
her
pleaded, "Please come with us. We have bought your freedom.
Let us take you away from this degradation."
"Why?" Haseeba implored, "I tried to
destroy you, why would
you want to help me now?"
Priya, with tears running down her cheeks replied,
"Because
I want you to find what I've found; someone to love and
cherish me all the days of my life." Pointing to me, she
finished with "He knows my failings, weaknesses and sins,
yet he still loves me."
Shaking her head no, Haseeba cried, "No man could
love me
knowing I've been forced to eat the dung of others."
Priya smiled at her and said, "If God can forgive,
so will
a man that He'll provide for you. Now come, come away from
this filth and return to the land of the living. Leave
behind the girl who lived here to die a quiet death."
With that, Priya rose, taking her hand and pulling
Haseeba
to her feet. Priya helped her put on a torn, stained grey-
white petticoat and we started to leave. I had to hold her
up because Haseeba could hardly stand, much less walk. I
took off my jacket and placed it around her shoulders and
we left that living hell.
Once outside, I picked her up and carried her to the
limo.
Once in the car, Priya held her like a babe as she sobbed
out the story of her defilement: the beatings, the rapes
and the degradations she was forced to endure without food
or drink. Priya just held her, crying as she let her former
enemy let it all out. I cried myself when I considered the
fact that I'd paid $47.00 US for the life of a seventeen
year-old girl.
Returning home, the house was empty, save for Pita, our
maid. I sent the car to pick Sarah up at school. Priya took
Haseeba upstairs and bathed her in the shower, and brought
her back downstairs in a bathrobe. The maid gave her a
plate of food to eat, and she dove through it like she
hadn't eaten in days, asking for more.
While she was eating, Priya told me that Haseeba was so
sore from the bruising beatings, that it was difficult to
bathe her without pain. I told Priya that Haseeba and Sarah
were about the same size, Sarah being slightly fuller, and
that Sarah could bring her something to wear. I suggested
that once she had some clothes, we'd take Haseeba to the
hospital to be checked out for HIV and STD's, broken bones
and any other medical care she might need.
Priya called her mother's house and Sarah was just
getting
home. I had the driver wait as Sarah picked out a couple of
changes of clothes for Haseeba before they headed back to
our house.
While waiting, I explained to Haseeba that Sarah was
bringing her some clothes for her to wear and that we were
going to the hospital to take care of her medical needs.
She simply sat in an almost catatonic state as I spoke, as
if not really caring what happened to her.
When Sarah arrived about fifteen minutes later, they
took
Haseeba upstairs to get dressed and I gave the driver and
the guard 500 rupees each, then told the driver to take the
guard home. When the girls came downstairs, Haseeba was
dressed in a pair of sweats. We all got ready and left for
the hospital.
After her examination and blood work were finished, the
doctor said that besides all the bruises, Haseeba had a 5
mm tear in her rectum that needed sutures and also several
broken ribs. They elected to keep her in the hospital for
several days, by then her blood work would be completed.
We explained to Haseeba what her condition was and that
we'd stay with her for a while. Priya stayed with Haseeba
in the emergency ward as they sewed her up and we stayed
with her until she was settled in a room.
With an IV inserted in her hand, Haseeba took Priya's
and
said, "I owe you my life. I would have died a horrible
death there."
Priya kissed her on the cheek and told her, "You
owe me
nothing except to find happiness in your life."
We said our goodnights and left a sleeping Haseeba for
home. Priya and Sarah spoke in Tamil all the way back to
Sarah's place. After we dropped Sarah off, Priya sighed
with relief and said, "Allah has spoken to my heart, and to
show kindness to an enemy has brought me forgiveness and a
great blessing. Thank you Sean for doing this with me, I
couldn't have done it on my own."
"Don't thank me," I said softly, "Today,
I was merely your
instrument. It was you, all you, today. I m so lucky to
have you as my wife. I love you so much more than words can
express."
At home, we filled Mom and Dad in on the events of the
day,
and that Haseeba was now in the hospital recuperating from
her ordeal. Mom hugged Priya and told her how proud she was
of her daughter-n-law. Dad was remorseful about what he'd
said earlier and added, "I cannot imagine a country where
the life of a young woman is only worth forty-seven
dollars, it's just inconceivable to me."
We ate a light supper and headed upstairs. After
showering
and saying prayers, we retired to bed. After all the events
of the day, and Priya being so strong for Haseeba, Priya
melted into my arms and cried herself out.
Continued in Chapter 19…
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