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Chapter 22: Take A Stand

Lakshya entered the room, walking in through the main door which wasn't shut properly, and is startled to see the view of Sanjay being on top of Ragini. He ran forward, pushing Sanjay, who was just about to tie the Mangalsutra and pulled Ragini towards him, helping her sit and stand, pulling her behind him protectively while staring at Sanjay in shock.

"Lakshya. . ." She was shocked to see him there but was so grateful and glad, she continued crying, not knowing what else to do while Sanjay angrily stood up, facing Lakshya with his stinging, semi-closed eyes.

"What are you doing here!" Sanjay angrily remarked, gritting his teeth.

"What were you doing?" Lakshya asked. "That is none of your business! It's between me and Ragini so stay out of it!"

Lakshya shook his head in disbelief as she looked at Sanjay. "Sanjay, are you mad or have you lost it? How dare you try to do this to her?"

"I said stay out of this! Why does it concern you? Who even are you!"

"It does concern me! You can't do this to a girl!" Lakshya shouted back, now getting angry. "Now matter what happens, you. . ." He punched Sanjay to express his anger. "Do." He punched him again, "not rape a girl!" He added and punched him again.

Sanjay clenched his fist and charged at Lakshya, punching him in the stomach. "Says you, you druggie alcoholic! You hated Ragini right, so why are you here to be her saviour?"

Lakshya clenched his jaw, "It's true that I don't like her, but that doesn't give me the right to overlook what you're doing to her. And who are you to judge me? At least I didn't fall as low as you just did! Raping someone is never and will never be a solution to anything!"

"I love Ragini!"

"Love? What type of love is this?" Lakshya scoffed, "this doesn't look like love, in love, you never force!" Lakshya added, now sounding serious.

"What do you know?"

"You're right, I don't know. But by the sounds of it, you don't either."

"I do, I love Ragini and that is why I did everything to make her mine! But you, you ruined it! Why are you getting closer to Ragini? Why are you making my heart burn?"

"You're gone psycho!"

"Just stay out of it!" Sanjay warned and reached out for Ragini but Lakshya held his hand, pushing it away. "A no is a no! You can't touch her without her consent!"

"Who are you to stop me?" Sanjay asked, ready to fight Lakshya.

Lakshya had enough and punched Sanjay again, this time kneeing him in the stomach. Sanjay, who was at a disadvantage because of his eyes merely fell, unable to fight back, and as he fell, his head hit the door, making him loose his conscious.

Ragini gasped, covering her mouth and Lakshya moved forward, checking if Sanjay was breathing. "He's alive." Lakshya uttered and Ragini sighed a relief as tears continue seeping down her eyes.

Lakshya stood back up, facing Ragini and Ragini ran towards him, hugging him. "Thank you for coming." He wasn't expecting a sudden hug, and places his hands down on his sides, feeling slightly awkward.

"You're getting my shirt wet."

She scoffed, breaking the hug and looked at him.

"What?"

"You're meant to console me and tell me not to cry, but you. . . What can I expect anyways!" She sighed and swallowed, wiping her wet cheeks.

"You look like a witch, your mascara smudged and you look. . ." He stopped after her glare. "You're horrible."

"I've always been." He replied and she continued wiping her tears.

"Call the police and arrest him."

"Hmm?"

"Call. . ." He stopped, grunting slightly and breathed.

"Are you okay?" Ragini asked with a small sniff. "Call the police."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"It's too complicated."

Lakshya sighed, knowing where this was going. "If you're worried about what people would say then know that people always talk. You reporting him would be for your safety, why would you compromise?"

Ragini merely blinked while Lakshya continued speaking, "you need to care about yourself. This world won't stop judging, but to be happy, you need to always do what you know is right for you, even if it means to upset the society. Besides, who cares about such society that can't give people happiness?"

"It's not that easy Lakshya."

"Why isn't it easy Ragini?"

"I'm a girl, who lost her parents. Who has been brought up by her grandma, this news won't only affect me but my Daadimaa too. I don't care what people say about me, but I can't tolerate people pointing fingers at my grandma."

"Wouldn't your Daadi want you to have Sanjay behind the bars? Or has she taught you to be a weak timing girl, who should only endure?"

"She hasn't taught me to be weak."

"Then put Sanjay behind the bars and give him what he deserves."

"But. . ." Ragini stopped as soon as she hears footsteps, turning around to see bunch of policemen enter.

She was surprised and Lakshya sighed, rolling his eyes.

"What are they doing here?" Ragini asked, looking at Lakshya who blinked. "Did you call them?"

"What's happening here?" An officer asked as he entered the room, seeing Sanjay on the floor.

"They tracked me here." Lakshya whispered to clarify and Ragini looked at the officers. "We asked what is happening here Mr Maheshwari!"

"That man tried to molest this girl." Lakshya revealed and Ragini looked at him, he looked down at Ragini. "If not now then it's never."

"Is this true?" The officer asked while looking at Ragini, who looked at him.

She stayed quiet, thinking about her answer. If she said 'yes' then it'll be a shocking news for her family, and if she said no then she'll be letting herself down.

"Tell them Ragini. . ."

"Mr Maheshwari, you can't force someone to say something. Let her answer on her own."

It wasn't easy for her to answer straightaway, being part of this society wasn't a pleasure, however if she continued bowing down, then she will never be able to do what she wants without fearing.

"Yes."

"We need to write your statement, can you come to the station with us?" The officer requested and Ragini shook her head positively, and the two officers charged at Lakshya, holding his hands and pulling him down.

"What. . . Are you doing?" Ragini asked, confused and surprised with what they were doing with Lakshya.

"He's an offender, you don't need to worry about this. You follow me."

"But, you can't do this to him. What has he done? He just helped me." Ragini argued back, not knowing why she wasn't pleased with the way Lakshya was being treated.

"Don't worry about him."

They handcuffed him after getting him on his knees, and then made him stand again.

"Don't worry about me. Just go." He uttered, feeling helpless and angry with the way he was being treated.

"But. . ."

"Just go, I'll follow you." Though she wasn't convinced, she nodded and walked forward.

The other two officers bend down to see Sanjay, who starts to move. "Ahh." He hissed and confirmed with his consciousness, they start arresting him.

**

"What?" Ram gasped after hearing the news from Adarsh and Sanskaar.

"I can't believe this!" Durga Prasad uttered in disgust and shock.

"And Lakshya is gone to convince her to report Sanjay?" Ram asked to make sure one more time and both Adarsh and Sanskaar nodded.

"He's doing the right thing, but does he know where she lives?"

"I don't know, he just ran as if he knew where she stayed. . ." Adarsh trialled off and looked at Sanskaar. "Which is weird because he should know where she lives, unless he read her address on her application form."

"Hmmm." Both Ram and Durga Prasad hummed, thinking about it too.

Interrupting the thought, Durga Prasad received a call and he slid his phone out of his pockets, answering the unknown number.

"Hello?" He spoke, waiting for the caller to start speaking.

**

Swara and Parvati stepped out of the Auto, surprised to see the police taking Ragini, who was then followed out by Lakshya and Sanjay.

"Ragini." Parvati called out and rushed towards them, while Swara paid the auto driver and then ran towards Ragini and Parvati.

"What happened? What is this?" Ragini faced Parvati, emotionally blinking at her. "Daadima. . ."

"I'm sorry but we need to take her to the police station to write her statement."

"Statement for what? What did she do?" Swara asked, shocked by the view.

"She didn't do anything but something happened to her, which she is about to report."

"Ragini, what happened?" Swara asked, holding Ragini's hand concernedly.

"I'll tell you later." She softly mumbled and freed her hand, sitting inside the police car.

Lakshya and Sanjay were pushed in, and the officers joined them. The two police cars drove away and Parvati's heart dropped.

"Haye Mhare Thakur Ji. . . What must've happened?" Parvati worried, placing her hand over her chest.

"Daadi, don't worry. I'll go to the station and find out. You go inside."

"I want to come too."

"But your knees hurt Daadi, please rest."

"No, I want to come."

"Okay fine, I'll go and see if the main door is locked or not and then we can go." Parvati nods and Swara, who runs to see.

**

Ragini was sat on the chair, giving her statement while Sanjay and Lakshya were behind the bars.

"Please sign here." The officer asked after writing it down and she nodded, taking the pen to sign.

Durga Prasad entered with Sanskaar, instantly walking towards Ragini.

"I'm a witness, I saw Sanjay misbehave with Ragini." Sanskaar spoke, and Ragini turned, looking up at both Durga Prasad and Sanskaar.

"Okay, please sit. We need to write your statement." The officer responded and Sanskaar nodded, while Ragini stood up, allowing Sanskaar to take a seat.

"I'm here for Lakshya." Durga Prasad muttered and the statement officer pointed at a different desk, indicating he should go there.

Durga Prasad wasted no more time in heading towards the desk. "Lakshya. . ."

"Right, he broke the rule of staying in the locations we fitted in. This is why we had to arrest him, you can take him now but be aware this will happen every-time he's not in the locations he's meant to be in." The officer explained and then signalled the constable, who nodded as he took the keys from the wall and headed towards the lock, unlocking the cell.

Lakshya stepped out, slightly limping and looked at Durga Prasad. "Are you okay?" Lakshya ignored Durga Prasad, looking away.

Ragini noticed the tension between the two, now wondering why Lakshya doesn't get along with his family. Durga Prasad turned towards Ragini, feeling very guilty and apologetic.

"I'm so sorry for what happened." He apologised and Ragini shook her head. "You don't need to apologise Sir, none of this is your fault."

"But still, he was an employee from our company and. . ."

"It would've been different if you didn't know." Ragini interrupted, assuring him he's not at fault.

Knowing it's not her place to say, she decided to keep her thoughts to herself and merely lowered her gaze. She wanted to tell them about Lakshya and his complications with the machine on his leg, however the thought of Lakshya also being wrong and being punished had encouraged her to keep quiet.

Sanskaar finished giving his statement and signed the paper, glad that Sanjay would be punished for his misdeeds. He stood up after signing and walked towards Durga Prasad.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes, let's leave." Durga Prasad replied and then glanced at Ragini "we will drop you home."

"It's okay Sir, I'll manage."

"No, please. Let us drop you home." Sanskaar requested but Ragini was hesitant.

Before she could answer, Parvati and Swara walked inside. "Ragini!"

Durga Prasad and Sanskaar look to the side, watching Parvati and Swara storm towards Ragini. Durga Prasad was startled to see Parvati and moved slightly back, his heart skipped a beat and he swallowed. "Maa." His soft whisper left his mouth in aghast, as he continued looking at Parvati.

To Be Continued. . .

Up Next - Ragini & Lakshya to meet again, and clear the misunderstandings, taking a step forward to friendship. . .  

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