Rani locked herself inside her room along with Sarita and Neena. She held her head and sat crying against the wall, with her two daughters clinging to her.Manohar was never good to Rani. She could not give him a son.However, the fact that he will go to this extent to punish his wife and his own daughters, broke Rani completely. Their own father whom she trusted her daughters with while she was away for work,outraged their modesty. "Open the door Rani! Neena is lying. l am her father. How can I do this to her. She is lying!" Manohar banged the door. "Exactly you pervert. She is your own daughter. We both saw you.How could you do this to her...!" Rani shouted. "You women have gone mad. I am leaving for work. Dare you say anything about this to anybody. I'll kill you all!" Manohar said and left.Rani was scared for her daughters. She didn't know what to do. She quickly packed up and said, "we will not stay here. We must leave this place. Manohar can do anything! "And then the thought," where will we go but? If my daughters are not safe in their own house then where else are they safe! What will happen if people come to know about it!" She felt helpless and again broke down into tears. Sarita then suggested, "mummy, let's go to Radha madam's place. She is a good woman. She will help." Radha was Rani's employer. "Yes, that's a good idea. Let's go there. Didi will keep us." Rani said. They all landed at Radha's place and banged the door. It was already late in the night. Radha opened the door and was shocked to see the three woman in that state, "Arey Rani! What happened? What are you all doing here and why do you all look so scared? Please get inside and tell me."

Radha quickly fixed up a meal for the three and waited. Rani could hardly eat and broke down into uncontrollable tears once again," Didi, Kya bataoon, my Neena's life is over." She said "What happened? Tell me in detail please." Radha asked. "Didi, her own father...her own father!" Rani couldn't complete her sentence but Radha understood. Radha was shaken but it didn't come to her as a surprise. She had had heard many such sad stories where fathers molest their own daughters. She immediately got up to hug Neena. "Didi I can't go back. That monster will kill us all." Rani said sobbing. "Don't worry, you are not going anywhere. You are with me till something is done about it. Manohar needs to be punished." Radha said. "Punished!! Who will punish Manohar, didi? Police will not listen to us. People will not believe us. You know what happens in such cases. The girl only is victimized! Nobody will even marry my girls. I don't want my girls to go through all that. I just want a safe place where I can go and stay with them." Rani said. "How can you let a man, that too their own father, get away with such a monstrous crime. One man who was supposed to protect his daughters from the world, was doing this to his own daughter. He has been raping your daughter Rani! How can you let him get away. What example would leave for them?" Radha said in an angry tone. "But nobody will believe us Didi. Nobody will support us. Out there, things are different for people like us" Rani was sad. "I will support you Rani. Ravi will support you." Radha said. Ravi was Radha's husband who was right there at the room's door, listening to it all. He walked a few steps towards Rani and said, "yes Rani. Don't you want justice for your daughter? Manohar must pay for his sins. If you tolerate THIS then you will never be able to protect your daughters from anybody in this world. More importantly, you will never be able to live with dignity."

Radha then went to Neena, who was quiet all this while and asked her, "it's not going to be easy Neena. Would you be able to do it? There will be all sorts of questions asked. But nothing will be worse than what your own father did to you. Right? "Neena nodded and grabbed radha by her waist. Rani and her daughters found comfort in Radha and Ravi. Next day, they all went to the Police Station. As expected, things were not very forthcoming, "Kya maam, aap inki baaton mein aa gaye? They don't have any moral values. It's all ok in their society. I suggest you keep away from all of this." the officer on duty said. "Inke yaha chalta hae but kya aapko bhi chalta hae? A man physically assaulting his own daughter! Is it ok with you?" Radha said  Officer kept quiet. "Please register a FIR immediately or else we approach higher authorities and NGOS. It's not going to be easy for you also then." Ravi said. Officer reluctantly registered a FIR based on which Manohar was arrested. Neena, her sister and her mother, meanwhile went through extensive investigations which weren't easy for them but then they had their Ravi sir and their Radha ma'am with them. Rape was proved and a case filed against Manohar.The only teaching, we as parents need to give our children is of Integrity and choices. Learn to honour themselves and be aware of their own thoughts, their feelings and above all, their RIGHTS. The rest then takes care of itself as we have then given them the resources to deal with anything life throws at them. Unless until we stop hushing these matters, we will never be able to change anything. If we cannot do it by ourselves, we should not shy away from holding a hand, which can do it for us. Our system is most definitely a tough one to crack but nothing is impossible. Many significant amendments have been made in rape laws ever since they came into existence. And in today's time what works best is the public pressure.

All it requires is that one bold step in the right direction.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.