Girl in the Burka

Alone And Not Known

Characters
Afreen as the girl in the burkha.
Ibrahim, Afreen's uncle.
Farah, Afreen's aunt.
Shabir, Ibrahim's best friend.
Shoor, Ibrahim and Farah's son.
Riya, Afreen's best friend.
Raju, Afreen's neighbour.
Rama, Raju's wife.
Ahar, the man who tried to help Afreen.
Arnav Awashti, the Minister.
Bhavin Awasthi, Arnav's son.
Raghav, Chief of Police.
Laxmi,Ahar's project partner.
Dhruv, Bhavin's friend.

[ The '*' seperated paragraphs show the sequences of enquiries.]
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Next day

Ahar as usual went to the lake side to have his exercises done.
After he was done, he went to clean himself near the lake.
And there he found a body.
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At the hospital

"Where did you find her?" Laxmi asked.
"At the lake. She was drenched in water. It felt as if someone wanted to kill her but the nature became her saviour." Ahar said.
"So you identify her as the same girl you saw yesterday." The doctor asked.
"Yeah."
"Well. This is something serious Ms. Laxmi." The doctor said. "It was an attempt to murder."
"We need to search for her family and I have this strong gut feeling that she is the same girl who was kidnapped from the construction site." Ahar said.
"We must contact them,then."
"Yeah. I have their number."
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At Afreen's home

"She has her final exams later this month." Riya said.
"I know. But that's not what I worry about right now." Ibrahim said.
"Afreen always wanted to be a lawyer."
"She will become one." Ibrahim said while choking back his tears.
" I can't believe you guys." Farah came in and as usual was ready to play with her cunning words. " That girl is missing and you guys are worrying about her dreams. What if she ran away with... A boy. Not a big deal for that kind of a girl."
"Farah" Ibrahim stood up with enough vexation to slap her in the face but stopped himself.
"Oh. Stop manifesting your anger on someone who tries to be upfront. Keep it in your pocket. I don't need it. Your brother's daughter had such morals that even if she ran away with a boy, I wouldn't be surprised." Farah stood adamant even after knowing that Ibrahim's anger had reached the zenith.
" I can't believe I married you."
"Uncle your phone. It's ringing." Riya interupped their intensified fight.
"Yeah. Hello? Who's this?" Ibrahim said on the call.
While he had a talk on the call,Farah frowned at Riya and was about to leave,but skipped a beat when she heard,
"They've found Afreen."
"What did you say?" Farah came back to Ibrahim.
" Doesn't matter to you." He said.
"Let's go Riya."
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At the hospital.

Ahar entered the ICU with his head down. Without looking at Afreen, he stood near her bed. Afreen was still unconscious.
"I am so sorry that I left you all alone to face that death dealing situation. I tried to help but maybe you were too scared to accept it. I should've stayed." Ahar said while Afreen was still unconscious.
And for the next few minutes there was just silence, only when Ibrahim and Riya entered with panic on their faces.
"Afreen" was the first word Ibrahim spoke.
"She is still unconscious uncle." Ahar said.
Ibrahim with tears in his eyes,took the seat near Afreen's bed. He held her hand. And looked at her face without blinking.
Laxmi came in.
"Ahar, Afreen has been raped. But there are no signs of the same."
Ibrahim stood up being thunderstruck after hearing those words.
"I am sorry. Who are you?" Laxmi asked.
"He is Afreen's Uncle." Ahar said.
"How did you know that she has been raped?" Ibrahim asked.
"It's not confirmed. But doctors feel that way because she had torn clothes on. There are no signs of rape in the reports."
"How could you say it then? Are you out of your mind?"
"Uncle, please relax." Riya tried to calm down Ibrahim.
"It's not her fault. This world is not safe." Laxmi said.
"Not a word. Not a word I said." Ibrahim shouted.
Afreen came round and uttered just one word "Uncle.."
"Afreen" Ibrahim ran towards Afreen.
Ibrahim took Afreen hands.
"Where were you dear?"
"They..r..." Even before completing the sentence, tears came out of Afreen's eyes and she cried her heart out as if all she needed was a shoulder to cry on.
Ahar,on seeing that sight, got all misty eyed.
Ibrahim couldn't speak anything. He felt Afreen's pain.
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Why do they always say "boys Don't cry" and not "girls don't cry"? Maybe because girls take birth to face the wrath of this cruel world. Or maybe to show that how strong they are,that even god choosed only them to face the challenges. Girls don't Cry.
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