Trials of a different kind

"How had the world come to this?" thought Nayana as she sat on the bench in Two Town Police Station, her mind abuzz with questions that had no immediate answers. She had gone to the nearest police station as soon as she had regained consciousness, to try and save her daughter. She had tried to register a complaint the reception desk, but she had been asked to wait as the man attending the desk began to listen ostentatiously to the complaints of other men. She had tried to reach the Indian Embassy but she had been unsuccessful. Somehow, she had lost the telephone number of the Embassy or maybe someone had deliberately removed it? She hadn't had the need to contact the embassy after her arrival in this country.

After waiting for an hour she had again gone to the man at the reception, but he had waved her off impatiently, though he was free to take the complaint. This gesture had made her angry and she had barged into the SHO's office to speak about her grievance. Before she could even open her mouth, she had been dragged outside his office by her hair and thrown on the floor.

"You see those two naked b*****s there?" they had pointed making sure she had seen those unfortunate females, "That is what will happen to You as well if you don't shut up! Clear?" they had shoved her aside before continuing with whatever business they had been carrying out, which seemed to consist of rude jokes, smoking and milling about the station. No one seemed to be least bothered about listening to her, forget taking her complaint.

Nayana sat in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening around her. She prided on being a strong woman, but..... but..... this was something she had never expected. She had faced abuse, hardships, poverty, insults, shame and humiliation even, but at every such crisis there had been at least one person who had stood by her and helped her overcome the crisis. But nothing had prepared her for the onslaught of the events that left her baffled. She couldn't think, unable to process what was happening in this country. How had the men managed to change the society so much? How could the Empire suddenly become misogynist? This had not been the case in India. In fact, there would be a huge sensation if this happened in India and the government as well as the police would protect the women.

She looked hopefully at the news telecast of BBC News. The presenter was a man, who was happily announcing changes in his country's laws, abolishing the Monarchical Democracy replacing it with a pro-male, anti-female government. So, the whole world was succumbing to this! She thought gloomily as she temporarily forgot about her daughter Mounika, who was facing a predicament of a different kind.

.....@@@@@@@@@@@@@........

"What!!!" spluttered Karunakar as he watched a woman, looking strikingly similar to Mounika, burst into the office in her birthday suit, running into the staff room or the ladies room, wherever she was headed to. Even more amazing was the TV crew of the media channel one floor below them, who had thankfully decided to stop at the door. They had focussed the camera to capture the name of their Office before turning back. Now he knew that the stark naked Mounika was the reason for his office being the talk of the town for the next few days. He had been told that Mounika was a model employee; she had never been late to office, despite travelling by buses that were usually packed to capacity at that hour. She always worked diligently and efficiently and was one of the reasons his office had such a good reputation in the business circles. He suspected that Mounika may not be entirely at fault. So he decided not to question her yet. Having to explain her nudity to her colleagues was an ordeal in itself, but he couldn't help thinking about the expressions of her face when she told him the story. How would she look? Shy? Ashamed? Embarrassed? Uncomfortable? or just plain s******h? He was aware of a familiar reaction - a reaction that all males had when they were thinking about a naked female!

"Hello! Good morning Mr. Indraneel! I...." He paused as he listened to an unexpected outburst from one of his oldest clients about employing a w***e who ran around naked. He had a tough time convincing Indraneel that he was not a soft-hearted, boss who let a female destroy the reputation of his company. He spent the next hour talking to irate clients who had obviously watched the live telecast of Mounika's escapade. It seemed he had to do something about the matter or he was facing potential ruin. Time to tackle the girl and discipline her. She better have a good enough excuse or she would rue the day she dared to spoil his reputation.

He ordered an immediate meeting of all the staff. When he entered the conference room, everyone rose to greet him. He scanned the room for Mounika, but she was nowhere to be seen!

"Where the hell is Mounika?" He thundered at his staff, "I said Full Staff meeting! Not - one member of staff less - kind of a meeting! Go, bring her here now!"

"But ... but ... sir, she is not in a position to attend the meeting." Reena, his PA said.

"I don't care! I want her here, NOW! PRESENTABLE OR NOT! AM I CLEAR? " He shouted, making everyone nervous. Two of the male staff ran before he could say anything more, appearing with Mounika who was draped with a table cloth.

"Is this how you found her? " the steel in his voice sending shivers down their spine. He could be very intimidating when he was angry.

"N-n-n-no Sir!" they stammered unable to lie in front of his piercing gaze.

"Then, Why is she like that? Present her as you found her!"

"Yes, sir! Sorry Mounika ," they said as they pulled the table cloth away making her naked again. As she sat on the floor vainly attempting to save her dignity, she felt two hands pulling her to standing position. Her face turned beet red at the humiliation and shame she had to face a second time that day.

Karunakar sat taking his time to cool down. "Not bad!" he thought as he stared at her absorbing her curves. "She would make a wonderful bed partner! It would be very interesting to see how she takes her punishment."