MG-FF What does she want? Part 37 page 139 - Page 10

Part 12

"Mr Khurana, I am here to arrest you on the charge of kidnapping and the sexual assault of Ms Geet Handa, grand-daughter of Mohan Lal Handa. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say, will be used in evidence" Pandey stated coldly.

Before Maan could say anything, his lawyer, Ms Roy stood up and interrupted. "On what basis are you arresting and charging my client?"

"We have a signed statement from Ms Handa accusing Mr Khurana, as well as statements from her brother Brij and his friends" Pandey said.

Maan couldn't believe his ears. He hardly heard anything the inspector said. He was wondering why Geet had done this. It was a lie, a very serious lie, but why was she lying? Maan was feeling restless. He needed to go and talk to her and find out why she was lying? He thought she was different. But it turns out she is just like Sam, a liar.

"Mr Khurana, you need to come with us to the police station for questioning", Inspector Pandey said. "Hawaldar, arrest him"

Ms Roy, his lawyer had been listening intently up to now, but seeing the hawaldar approach Maan with handcuffs, made her blood boil. "Wait a minute Inspector. Mr Khurana is a well respected man and has a reputation to uphold. He has only been accused, not tried or convicted, so you cannot arrest him. A few statements from some locals are not evidence. What about this written statement, how certain can you be that it is not a fake? Do you have any physical evidence of a crime having been committed? No? Then I will bring him myself into the station for questioning. He will not be coming in your police van, and do not try to handcuff him!" she said firmly.

The inspector knew who Maan Singh Khurana was. He was high profile with lots of friends in high places. Hearing Ms Roy, Inspector Pandey began to have doubts on the case. But what could he do? In the village, the Handas were powerful, and had he not acted on Brij's accusation, then he would have been in trouble. He needed to be very careful either way and not upset either party! He knew that if he arrested Maan on the basis of little evidence, he would only bring trouble on himself, so he agreed to Ms Roy's proposal that she bring Maan to the police station. As the inspector left he said "I expect you in the police station within the hour Mr Khurana, and don't try to leave the village. We will be keeping a close eye on you"

Once the inspector left, Maan came out of his thoughts. "I need to go and see Geet and ask her why she is doing this", saying this, Maan was about to leave the room, when he felt Ms Roy's hand on his wrist stopping him. "Maan... I mean, Mr Khurana, please try to understand. This is not a trivial matter. You have been accused of kidnapping and sexual assault. You need to be careful what you say, what you do and where you go. At the moment our priority is to go to the police station as promised and look at the statements provided by Ms Handa and her brother and see if we can have this case dismissed. Without any hard evidence, it is only rumour or hearsay. I don't see that they have a case and I don't see what they wish to achieve. We should be careful though and please let me do the talking. This is what you pay me for! I need to minimise any chance of damage to your reputation."

Taking a deep sigh and seeing that his lawyer was providing him sane advice, Maan nodded in agreement. Both left in silence in Maan's car for the police station. Maan sat thinking of Geet's accusation, wondering why she did it. Ms Roy sat thinking about Maan. "Maan is such a good man. Everyone takes advantage of him. First his dad, then Sam and even his brother Dev. I bet this Geet is trying to blackmail Maan. I will make sure she and her family pay for upsetting Maan". Looking at Maan adoringly, she promised in her head "Don't worry Maan, you can trust me, I will protect you"

Geet sat in her room staring at the wall, lifeless with her back to the door. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. Brij didn't believe anything she said. Actually, he hadn't even let her speak! He didn't want to hear her side of the story. Rano and Taiyji came through the door with some bandages and ointment. They both gasped when they saw Geet. Brij had been very cruel in his punishment this time. He had used the horse whip which had broken through the skin in several places and her back was bleeding. But Geet didn't cry...she couldn't cry. It wouldn't change the situation.