Girl in the Burka

Outstaring The Fear

At the courtroom

"The plaintiff since day one has been only giving her point of views on this case with no proofs and witnesses." Mr. Naveen said.
"But fortunately today I have one. And the one to which you can hardly give any harm." Afreen said.
"Yet again you have started on with your blabbering. Bring up something new this time, m.s. Ahmed."
"Okay. As you say. Without any further ado, I would like to show to the court the call recording of Mr. Nayan Awashti from the same date when my rape happened.Can I present it to the court?"
"Yes. You can." The judge said.
Afreen played the call recording of Nayan talking with her wife Shloka Awasthi.
Call recording
"Hello!Nayan where are you?" Shloka said on call.
"Uh I am at a meeting."
*Men laughing*
"What is that sound,then?"
"I am in the corridor right now. I...I'll call you later,okay."
And he cut the line.

Nayan on hearing the recording went with a blow and his level of consternation increased more when he saw Shloka at the courtroom.

"Now I have Mrs Shloka Awasthi, wife of Nayan Awashti to be the witness and the one who was on the other side on the call."
Shloka looked at Nayan and then walked up to the stand.
"Mrs. Shloka Awasthi, when you called your husband what all sounds you heard and did it make you suspicious of something?"
"I heard men laughing and I found it unusual for men at a meeting to laugh. But then then the suspicion grew more because of his stammering."
"Anything else you wanna tell about your husband?"
"I am sure about the fact that he didn't rape you because he's not as spoilt as his brother but he was there at the site. That's it."
"Thank you Mrs. Awasthi."
"Mr. Naveen, cross?" The judge asked.
Naveen was about to stand up to cross question Shloka only when Nayan held his hand and stopped him to do so.
"Mr. Naveen?"
"Uh. No,your honour."
"Okay so moving forward, we have another big proof to support my case. The baby which I came across with at the construction site. And that's when I realised the foul play. And we have the mother of baby who is here to confess that his baby got kidnapped just the day before crime happened. Your honour, May I call Shahida Khan to the stand?"
"You may."
Shahida, with her baby, walked up to the stand.
"Mrs. Shahida Khan. Tell the court about the kidnapping of your baby."
"He went missing on 19th February and on the next day Afreen went missing."
"This clearly proves that Bhavin and Dhruv used the baby to get me into their clutches." Afreen said.
"I object." Mr. Naveen said.
"What is it?" The judge said.
"Mrs Khan, if your baby actually got kidnapped then how did you get him back? Without any ransom? Your honour, the witness clearly stated in her confession that she found her baby at her door on 21st February. Why would the kidnapper return the baby without asking for a ransom. Wierd!"
"Because the objective of the kidnapper wasn't to extract money but to use it to kidnap Afreen." Shahida said. "Also, why would I lie when the only people who came to buy me were your clients. Just like every other witness,you came to buy me too."
On hearing Shahida's accusation, Naveen was compelled to hold his tongue.
"The court doesn't allow defendant or the plaintiff to buy the witnesses and make them confess what they want them to. Henceforth, the defendant's client will be punished for buying the witnesses."
.
.
.

At Ahar's House

"So what do we toast to?" Riya asked.
"Afreen's first win." Ahar said.
"Yay!! Cheers." They all cheered for Afreen's first win the last day.
"So Afreen, what's next?"
"I don't know. My uncle's marriage is on the verge of divorce and I don't want that. I know whatever my aunt did was cruelty but why to do the same thing as she did."
"Your uncle is wise enough. He'll surely take the wisest step."
"I hope so."
"Afreen. Do remember the crime scene where this happened?" Ahar asked.
"The construction site."
"No. You told that they took you somewhere else."
"I don't know. When I became conscious, I saw a place where I've never been to. It was an unknown place. And then they threw me somewhere on the way to my house. I hardly remember anything about that place."
"Then the crime scene thing is out of the picture."
"Yeah. "
"Should we make your aunt speak infront of the court."Ahar asked.
"I don't think so. I don't want this thing to come out. It will break my uncle's heart."
"Afreen!!" Naisha said all of a sudden.
"What is it?"
"Your aunt just called me. She was crying."
"What else did she say?"
"I don't know. She was in a hurry and cut the line. You must rush to your house."
"Yeah okay." Afreen said.
"I'll come with you." Ahar said.
"No. It's alright."
"No. I am not asking."
"Look Ahar. This is something serious. A family issue. I don't want you to get involved in this. It may be like a fuel to the fire. Hope you understand."
"Okay. I do."