Story So far,
A woman dressed in a short black shirt and tight fitting blue shirt barged into the room. She didn't bother to knock nor did she look apologetic for barging in. Her attire did very little to conceal her buxom figure. He hair was tied up to a bun with wisps of stray hair falling all over her face making her round face look larger. With a sharp features, she looked every bit like a negative character from Indian daily soaps.
"Gita, cut the bull. I don't understand why you wanted the full board to be present for a silly harassment case. These things happen and this is exactly why I handle such silly issues. Quit being a pain and let us do our job. You are a woman and men have a tendency to be attracted to opposite gender!" said the Disha, the woman who had just entered.
Gita gave a throaty laugh. The god of irony seemed to be blessing her in abundance today.
"First of all, Althaf and me, we weren't a couple. Don't you think it's thick coming from you? Silly issues you say harassment is?" seethed Gita in anger.
"Disha please. Shut it. You weren't invited her in first place. You ruined my life 20 years ago and I let history repeat itself again. This needs to end, you bitch!" bellowed Ramesh.
Gita was shocked by her mentor's venomous tone.
"This woman here, is a sexual predator. She abused me on a daily basis 20 years ago when we first joined as interns. She threatened us, making sure her sexual needs were satisfied. It took me a good 10 years to recover from that trauma and put a full stop to her bullying. Raghu, look where this has landed. Althaf, the best we had, committed suicide! Heck! this is on you! You should have fired her when I brought this to you years ago!" shouted Ramesh.
Recovering from the shock, Gita let out a small laugh once again. Ramesh was perplexed by her urge to laugh in such a serious moment.
"Suicide?! Really? Ramesh, are you blind? Althaf was too strong for that. It's cold blooded murder. Look at the damn footage with your eyes wide open. His eyes, there is something wrong with them don't you see? And look at the reflection on the glass pane on his right side. See that shadow?" said Gita, zooming in to a point in the video. There stood a person with one arm out stretched. From the silhouette, the person looked like a woman.
Gita opened another file which played the same video of Althaf's suicide from another angle which covered the person standing opposite to him. This video had an audio track as well. The woman opposite to Althaf was threatening him. She was hypnotizing him to kill himself. Althaf had placed a small recorder behind him concealed neatly by the painting hung on the wall.
Gita stopped the video midway. It was becoming too painful for her to watch more of this. She wanted to run away and scream her head off. The room was pregnant with silence. As if on cue, the door opened and in came barging a bunch of men in uniform followed by a trim man in sharp police clothes and a woman in similar attire.
"Ms.Disha, you under arrest for sexual harassment and murder. Here is a warrant for the same. Walk with us please to the station. You are allowed to contact your lawyer once we reach the station. You know the drill mam!" said the woman before going on to stand next to Disha.
"You bitch! wait and watch! You think you can get away so easily. Don't worry! You will join your lover soon! I'll make sure of that!" shouted Disha like a mad woman before going on to pounce on her. The female cop caught Disha by her arm just before she could slap Gita and dragged her away. The male cop nodded at Raghu before leaving the room silently.
"Yes Ramesh. I should have acted back then. I know I am eternally late, but I hope Althaf forgives me some day. I had stumbled upon this video and your elaborate work when you dozed off in your cubicle the other day. I read through your notes and copied it all before waking you up. What I saw shocked me to my core. I had to put a full stop to this. I failed to save Ramesh 20 years ago when Disha troubled him. I let him suffer silently without firing her.Today, it costed me a lot more than I bargained for. Gita, please know that Althaf loved you. He loved in a way no one can possibly love you. His sexual preferences might have been different, but you were his one true soul mate. Please stay strong my girl!" replied Raghu, before patting Gita and walking away.
Note : Not the best ending, but I wanted it to be this way. Male abuse is a serious issue which seldom is acknowledged. Is it common at workplace? Not as common as female abuse is. However, abuse is a bad thing immaterial of gender or sexual preferences. A closure of sorts finally.
