Fear of khaki in her eyes

LUCKNOW: Fear of whatever might happento her if she dared to speak was evident in her eyes. In the dingy room of theMahila Sahaita Prakosht at Mahila Thana premises, Nazneen (name changed)continues to gaze at the ceiling without batting an eyelid. She hasbeen there since Saturday morning on the pretext that she could not be taken tothe court for getting her statements. Her mother and two cousin brothers werealso with her, besides suspended SI RB Singh and investigating officer of the"kidnapping" case SI RP Misra.As journalists from three dailiesreached the Mahila Thana on Monday evening to have a word with Nazneen, theresentment on the faces of the police became evident. One of the officialsdeclared that since the Mahila Sahayata Prakosht was under the SP (Crime),permission from him would be mandatory. How R B Singh, who had beenaccused of taking away the girl in a barbaric manner, was present there,reportedly since Saturday morning, was something none couldexplain.After much effort, the scribes were escorted to Nazneen.Their very presence provoked the mother of Nazneen to shout: "Why are you peoplehitting at the police when they have been thoroughly gentlemen to us?"Nazneen looked at her in amazement. "You people are simply lookingfor masala (sensational news) and, in the process, malign us and my daughter,"Nazneen''s mother continued, as if pre-determined, if not tutored."She had been kidnapped by Sudhir and rescued by these policemen. Why do youwant to create a mess out of this?" she yelled. Tears welling up inher eyes. Taken aback, the journalists, including this reporter, tried toexplain their side of the story but even before they could complete theirstatement, Nazneen spoke up: "Inhin logon ne humein us din bachaya tha policewalon se," (They are the people who saved me from those policemen that day). Butshe shut up as her mother turned to her staringly. Obviously, Nazneen wanted tospeak but was not allowed to.After the journalists apologised toNazneen''s mother for doing what they did on Friday night and began to walk outof the room saying that next time, in such a situation, they would never takethe initiative to save any such girl, the mother broke down. "No no... you have saved her life. But for all of you, God knows what would havehappened ... our entire family would remain indebted to you all for the rest ofour lives ...," she said.