When victim became victor

This story will shake you up. Even if you are already numbed by what you get to read in the media these days. After all, even the seasoned psychotherapist who shared Sahira’s story had goosebumps while narrating it.

The story is about her, Sahira and him, Nasir. You will not be able to forget her at the end of it. And not want to remember him.
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We do not know what happened to him. But if he were to tell, this is probably how the story would begin in his entitled voice.

I liked her and wanted her for myself. But she kept turning me down.

On one Valentine’s Day, she pushed me, and I fell. The whole college saw that. I was so humiliated and angry that I just got on my bike and away from there fast. On the way, I met with an accident. All because of her.

She thinks she can become a doctor while that accident has left me limping. My friends keep laughing at me for being such a loser. I will show her.

We caught hold of her, locked her up and enjoyed her for three days.

Just because she married me to save her father and on my father’s advice, she is not going to escape. I will make her suffer.
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So what if she is pregnant? My mother is right. I must get rid of both. One kick should do it.

​Let us now shift to Sahira’s perspective, as described by the psychotherapist.

“With no footwear and no money, she ran for her life and that of her unborn child. Her parents took her to a hospital, lodged a police complaint and also filed for a divorce.

“Her own family advised Sahira to choose abortion because she was very young and had a whole life ahead of her. She could get married to someone in a few years and settle down. Her family didn’t have enough money to support one more member.

“However, at the age of 19, Sahira decided that she would not remarry but raise the child on her own.

“Her divorce case lasted for over six years. She felt she was being raped again and again in the court room as the lawyers pestered her with questions and made her go through the whole case in agonizing detail.

“During the sixth year of the case, Nasir was caught by the police in another rape case. He was apprehended in his car while he and his friends were returning to Pune with the victim, from the same farmhouse where Sahira was once raped.

“The judge issued a warrant for Nasir’s arrest. Left with no other option, Nasir’s lawyer reached out to Sahira’s lawyer for an out-of-court settlement. Nasir was ready to give complete custody of the child to Sahira and also give her a divorce, if she would let go of all charges and cases against Nasir and also let go of the huge amount owed to her in alimony arrears. Sahira agreed because this would free her daughter for life from having to maintain any contact with Nasir. For Sahira, that mattered the most.

“Sahira had to give up on her dream of becoming a doctor. But she didn’t give up on her dream to be a successful woman, a responsible daughter and a loving mother.

“She has worked mainly with international banks and is currently in a leadership position in a European bank. An alumna of one of India’s leading institutes of management, Sahira continues to pursue her doctorate in organisation management.

“Sahira remains unmarried and stays with her daughter in a beautiful house she owns. Her daughter, an academic topper, has grown up to be a mature and responsible young graduate.”

Do read the complete post by the psychotherapist, Prerna Shah, here.

At the end of it you may want to curse the villain. Or, more positively, follow the victim’s example and celebrate her victory over “fate”. You can, if you badly want to. She is a living example.