“I love you”, Satya said looking deep into her beautiful eyes. He loved how her mouth curled into a smile on hearing him. Their naked bodies were still wrapped around each other like snakes. Satya’s spent penis was was resting softly on her belly. He couldn’t believe the deep love he felt for her. He knew he was looking into the eyes of the girl he would marry one day, the future mother of her children.

“I love you too”, she smiled. Satya leaned forward and started kissing her again.

After the kiss, she started dressing while Satya watched. He imagined what life would be like waking up next to her, when they wouldn’t need to hide their love. But he knew it was too far away. First he has to clear his board exams with a great score, get into one of the top colleges in the country, then get an extremely high paying job and then he can come back to ask her parents for her hand. But he couldn’t wait for that future. He was doing everything possible to make the future come true.

The lovers fixed their next date and reluctantly said their goodbyes.

Satya waited for her in the forest clearing in the evening of the date. She was late. She had never been late. Terrible thoughts started coming to his mind. But he waited, he waited until deep into the night, until he was sure there was no chance of her coming.

When he returned home he saw the blinking lights of a police car. For a moment he forgot all about her. He started running towards his house. He didn’t let his mind wonder what terrible things could have happened.

As soon as he reached his house, one of the cops grabbed him and slammed him in the ground. There was a lot of shouting and screaming. In the confusion he felt kicks to his gut and to his face. Soon he was getting handcuffs put on his hands. No one replied when he asked why he was being arrested.

His sight fell on his mother. She was crying hysterically, with her hand on her chest. He had never seen her cry so hard. Seeing her crying so miserably broke his heart. He looked around and found his father.

His father, the patriarch, was someone who Satya could always go to find a solution to any problem. He was the calm, collected and reserved rock of the family.

But right then, his father’s face was covered in an expression of pure hate and disgust. He had never seen his father like that. It scared him to his core and suddenly he stopped resisting the police all together.

In the police station he learnt that he is being charged for blackmail, threats and rape of his girlfriend. He cried out in shock but no one listened to him.

Later in the night, behind the bars, he realized what must have happened. His girlfriend’s family must have found out about their relationship. To stop them they must have raised a false rape complaint. It was, after all, not uncommon to do so in this country where parents think it is they have the right to kill their children to save their honour. Regardless he knew his life was over. Sex inbetween minors is considered statutory rape, even if he was a minor too. He knew he would face the consequences. But once he proves that it was consensual the punishment would be less severe. He would fall on his father’s feet and ask for forgiveness. He knew lived in a conservative country but his father was relatively liberal. He knew he wouldn’t care if he had sex before marriage.

The next morning he met his mother. He explained to his crying mother the supposed victim was actually his girlfriend. Her mother didn’t stop crying but revealed that it was the her, who he claimed to be his girlfriend that claimed he raped her. He refused to believe that. He knew in his heart that she would never say that. He was sure her parents had made up the bullshit story because they were mad. He explained the same to his mother.

He asked why his father didn’t come. Her mother went silent for a moment and started crying again. She told him that his father was not going to come. Soon his maternal uncle and maternal grandfather reached the station.

They went to court together and his uncle and grandfather paid for his bail. But it was explained to him strictly to not call or meet his girlfriend. That would witness harassment and his bail would be immediately cancelled and further charges would be put on him.

When he reached his house, he saw his father. His father’s face still had the same expression of hate and disgust. He was too afraid to speak but his uncle and grandfather tried to convince his father.

“He is just a kid”, his uncle said.

“He might be a kid but he is not my kid!”, he shouted and told them that Satya was not allowed to be in his house. Satya’s mother fainted in front of the house steps but her husband’s face never softened.

From then on, Satya had to stay with his grandfather. His school expelled him. His previous private tutors no longer wanted him in the class. None of his friends tried to reach out to him. Once, while he was coming back from the market a few people put an opaque plastic bag over his face and beat him until he lost consciousness.

He kept telling everyone he was innocent. He kept telling he didn’t rape her. He knew he would be proven correct in the court. He knew his girlfriend wouldn’t lie. He couldn’t wait for the court date.

His father had come to the court the day his girlfriend was to appear to testify. He felt happy seeing his father. He knew his father would finally hear the truth and forgive him.

“He called me to discuss studies. He gave me an orange soda. I think I passed out after drinking it. Next thing I know, he was on top of me and my legs were spread apart and there was unbearable pain ... I started screaming, shouting. He slapped me so hard I tasted my blood in my mouth. ‘I will kill you fucking bitch’, he shouted. His face looked monstrous. He looked inhuman. I was terrified ... more terrified than I had ever been. I truly believed he was going to kill me. I laid still and hoped it would be over ... When he was finally done, he threatened me that if I tell anyone about it, he will kill me”

Satya couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. He knew she loved him. How could she say all these! Why was she doing this? She knew the consequences, he is going to jail because of the made up story she just told the court. He was going to lose everything because of this. He almost got a heart attack while listening to it.

He began to think. It was no time to think about why she was lying. He had thought if she could be proven a liar. Yes, it would easily be proven to be a lie. A lot of people knew of their relationship, her friends, her sister. Her sister had started calling him brother-in-law to tease him. Her friends had passed their love letters.

But one by one every girl testified that they were not in any relationship. Her sister testified that he was stalking her. Some told the court he was a goon. One of her friends told the court he had harassed her too.

During the end of testimony, his father suddenly had an outburst in the courtroom. His father, with a face full of hate and disgust, declared to the whole courtroom that Satya was not his son, he was never allowed to come to his house and begged the court to give him a death sentence.

Satya knew his fate. Noone could save him now. He would have to go to jail for years. Seeing his father abandon him, seeing his mother crying, seeing his uncle and grandfather not able to meet his eyes, a violent anger started consuming him. He was suddenly angry with everyone, his father, the court, his mother and everyone for not believing him. But most of all he was enraged at his girlfriend, her sister and her friends. When he looked at them, they were finally actually scared.

On the testimony of the girls, the court decided that Satya had raped his girlfriend. Because he was a minor he was sentenced to juvenile jail for two years.

Even in jail others seen to avoid him and he was forced to hang out with few others also convicted of rape.

At first he didn’t find anything common with them. He heard them telling how they thought all women were there to tease and torture them, how women are devious snakes, how they love only themselves, how women exploit men, how laws favour them, how society looks down on men.

As days passed, he started agreeing more and more with them and started sharing his story.

All of them laughed when they heard the story and asked how could her ever trust a fucking whore? They all agreed it was his fault for ever trusting a slut.

After hearing his story, people started changing their stories. Almost everyone started accepting that they had infact raped these girls because of something the girl had done. Few told how the girls had made them believe they are in love just to exploit them, others raged on about how the girls had insulted them, while others told how girls teased and tortured them for fun.

As they became more familiar with him, they started telling tidbits about themselves and what they liked. They told him how they like to rape them, some told them how they used to stalk them, how they had found the opportunity, how they videotaped them and blackmailed them and how they liked to hear them cry and weep. One of them had hit his victim so hard on the face that she had lost six of her teeth. One guy had tried to choke and burn his victim.

Satya had been a kind, intelligent student. But as he thought of violently choking her girlfriend, her sister and her friends while raping them he found himself getting immense satisfaction.

In a few months he started talking exactly like them. By the time it was time to get out he was unrecognizable. He had grown his moustache and beard. He had a big scar on his left cheek which he had gotten by fighting with other convicts. His hair was unkempt. The gentle face of the boy, who raised his hand in response to the teacher’s every question in school, had vanished. Instead he looked like a hardened criminal, a thug.

When he finally got out, he traveled to his village even though he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to enter his house. That was not his plan anyway. He began stalking his ex-girlfriend like he learnt from one of the convicted rapists. After following her for a week he had learnt her complete routine, where she went, when she went, what was the route she took, when she was alone.

It was easy for him to come at her from behind and place a cloth wet in chloroform on her face. He dragged her unconscious body into a car without anybody seeing them and then took her into an abandoned cabin deep in the forest.

By the time she woke up, he had tied her limbs to bedpost and gagged her.

“Finally awake”, he said sarcastically. She looked at him in horror. He started punching her face. He didn’t ask any questions, he didn’t remove the gag just kept punching her face.

After he was satisfied, he pulled out a knife and placed it on her neck.

“If you scream, I will rip your throat...”, he said and removed her gag.

“I am sorry ... I am so sorry ... please ... I am sorry”, she began pleading with him.

He punched her face and when she screamed he covered her mouth.

“Too fucking late to say fucking sorry! I want to know ... Why!”, he shouted and punched her gut.

So, she told him. She was pregnant. Her aunt guessed it from the morning sickness she had and immediately made her take the pregnancy test.

She couldn’t tell that she had been in a physical relationship before marriage. That would have brought so much shame to her and her family. She was scared. Her father was so angry. She thought they would disown her. So she did what she could to protect herself, her honour and her family’s honour in the village.

“So you ruined my life to protect your fucking honour?”, he shouted and spit in her face. She kept begging for forgiveness.

Instead he gagged her again.