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I had been to her place on the request of my dear friend. Her name was Vani. She was engaged to be married, to a man from Bangalore. She was quite good looking. My husband, a banker was deputed to this village. A beautiful village surrounded by lovely mountains. My friend (my husband’s colleague) being a widow could not attend the engagement function so she chose that particular day to congratulate her childhood friend.

Her father was the high priest of the village temple, situated mid-town and their house was attached to the temple. She and her brother both were born here. Her mother had passed away a few years ago.

We were seated in the hall. Her home consisted of a huge hall, a middle room and Kitchen. The house was built on a slope and likewise a few rooms were situated at the top and the kitchen was located lower than the hall where we were seated, and bathroom at a still lower level. One had to descend/ascend a few steps to get to the kitchen.

No sooner we took our seats, she got us some water and jaggery as is the custom. She stumbled once and recovered quickly. I noticed the small tear at the bottom of her saree petticoat, big enough for her toe to get in.

She stumbled likewise twice, in the hour’s time we spent there. We left after my friend and vani exchanged pleasantries. As we were walking towards home I wanted to warn my friend about the danger of her friend tripping due to that torn petticoat. But somehow our topic turned to our trekking expeditions and the preparations that we were to make.

Anyways a few days later, my friend came to me in a hurry and said Vani had met with a fall and her right leg was fractured and the culprit the same torn petticoat. Her leg was in the cast for six months.

The wedding could not be postponed, since the bridegroom could not postpone his leave, and also there was no other auspicious date for a long time, She got married with the cast on. The marriage ceremony was conducted with great pomp and her father shelled an awful amount of gold and money as dowry.

The honeymoon was postponed until after the removal of the cast. Even after the cast was removed, there was a slight limp in her right leg. The doctor pronounced the limp to be permanent. The boy was not able to adjust to this new situation. And he sent her back to her fathers place. The girl had no mother. The brother was a hooligan. Even after six months of stay the boy was not ready to have her back. On intervention from the holy - seer and other relatives he agreed to take her back provided the father-in-law gave him money to buy a bike. Having borrowed heavily for the marriage, it was difficult for the father to get more money to cater to the boys demand. Also the income from the temple was not very high.

But somehow he managed to sell the small property that he possessed in his native place which, he had kept aside to tide him over in his old age. He borrowed some more from his friends This time round, when the girl was with her husband he slowly started harassing her calling her a handicapped person and also came home drunk and burnt her on the neck and arms with cigarette butts. He locked her inside the house when he went about his chores. The girl suffered all this in silence for she had not much education and did not want to return to her parental home, scared of the gossip that might spread in her small village.

Only when a relative visited them, he saw the sad state of affairs and got her back to her fathers’ place. Two years had passed by then. As soon as the girl left him, he shifted his residence unknown to everybody. Rumors came to the girl about his going about with another woman. Then one day she received lawyers notice asking for signatures on the divorce form. Again there was some try at getting them to reconcile but to no effect. This divorce proceeding again took a long time. It took its toll on her old father and he expired. Since another priest came there to stay with his family, the girl had nowhere to go. Last we heard she had gone to stay with her very distant, aged relatives where she was not given a humane treatment, as if it was her fault that situation took such a turn.

We were deputed to a far off metro by then and all subsequent news was shared by my friend over mail. But my question is if the father had utilized the money spent on her dowry to educate her or to start off some sort of a small business for her, he need not have gone to such lengths, avoiding all the heartburns on the way. Why is it that girls, (even now) are bought up as a burden, where -in she has to be married off as soon as possible?