Image for representational purpose only.

Can anyone make out by looking at a photograph – What type of character may a human being possess – what type of mentality can this being have – any guesses ?

My Life story is intimately associated with such a character. I never intended to wash dirty linen in public, but contemplating over the years amounting to two decades, I finally decided to do so, because society at large truly needs to identify these so-called respectable denizens / citizens, who cover up facts under a false façade of respectability!!

I, who never knew and truly detest cheaters and petty criminals in the true sense of the term, was destined to live a life of terror (both physical and mental), for not hours, days or months – but to be precise – 19 long years of abuse and torture, in a family of scoundrels and to state aptly – criminals – who went scot free and are still living a serene and cool Life – covering things up very shrewdly under the guise of respectability.

Guys, this character is a teacher, yes you read that right, a teacher by profession- yet a true criminal by character, who shows his true, violent colors behind closed doors and the irony is that his family members always kept mum and so can be labeled as silent supporters of crime – of his vociferous ways – whether he committed these crimes without addictive influence or with it.

This true story dates back to the year 1991 when he befriended me by hook or by crook without me being aware of his wicked intentions of trapping a young teenager for bamboozling money – me being from an affluent family of those days. His ‘honey and sugar’ tricks worked and I fell into the ‘honey trap’ – which I started regretting just five days after taking wedding vows with him, against my parents wishes.

An alcoholic, a sly criminal and a womanizer too are apt words to describe his character in short!

He started abusing me from day 5 after marriage – both physically and mentally! The first stinging slap on my cheeks was on that day! Naïve as I was, I had never bothered to gather enough information about him previously. The only thing I knew was that his mother was my teacher in school and I respected her a lot! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I was trapped by a sweet talking selfish beast!

I was a pampered daughter at home and always lived a lavish life, till without realizing at all, I fell into this deep dark well after marriage from which there was no respite. A disaster from the word ‘go’ – yet I felt so threatened for my life, that I became a dumb spectator for two decades – he made me lose my self-esteem, beat me up for no rhyme or reason, slapped me in public, dragged me by my hair on the streets – used me like a puppet – threatened to cut me up with sharp instruments, beat me with mosquito net rods, threw things at me whatever came to hand – pressure cooker lids and utensils, mostly under the influence of alcohol and even without it!! He had this habit of throttling me at the drop of a hat with my hands held behind me.

Two quick childbirths were the last straw – a mother’s emotions and love for the two sons who were like twins (born one year eight months apart) made me digest my sufferings and go on for such a long time.

Life was terror stricken for the young lass from day one of marriage – married at the tender age of 19, fighting against all odds to be with him – not knowing what was in store – a life of torment and “hell on earth”!

“Love is blind” – very true – and I have paid for it both physically and mentally – never getting a single moment of respite from torture, torture and only torture. My fate was sealed – even the Almighty showed no mercy!!

He was after me and the siblings – day in and day out – mouthing verbal abuses and threatening to end our lives! I could not eat a single meal in peace all those years – I had to hide my food in odd places to have it later when the demon conked off after his dreadful onslaughts. He used to curse and taunt me at all times to make me feel how useless a being I was – made me suffer from inferiority complex – to the extent that if I managed to walk away from that life, I would have to live the life of a ‘prostitute’, as I did not have the knowledge or capacity to do anything to thrive in this wide world.

I literally went into a shell and did know nothing of the outside world – me being put in a cocoon with no contact with anyone or anything outside – the prisoner’s enclave – his so-called home!

Fear was the ‘key’, as I feared of dying and losing my sweet sons forever. I was driven to the limits and even tried ending my life when alone at home – but God wanted me to thrive and see this day, when I would be gutsy enough to come out of his clutches forever – one fine day – 25th of June, 2009, to be precise I literally ran away never to return to that hell!

He relieved me of all my money and jewelry given to me by my parents – not once, twice but innumerable times either forcefully or by sweet talking, which ran into approximately 40 to 60 lakh– on the pretext of buying something for the home or investing somewhere and promising to return everything to me, which later I came to know that he spent on his own entertainment – gambling, boozing and what not.

He even went to the extent of snatching the gold chains and rings of my sons and trading them – never to be returned again!! ‘False Promises’, as the word goes, always lead to punishments in a lifetime – but not for this scoundrel!

His very own father never wrote any property in his name – sounds strange – yet it is the blatant truth. Interesting how a father knew his own son in and out – I mean the scoundrel’s character- and so wrote a piece of land in his two grandsons’ names and not in his son’s name! However, years after his father’s death the scoundrel took ‘power of attorney’ from his sons (now grown up) by emotionally blackmailing them saying he’ll build them a house by taking house building loan against his government job salary – so that cunning as he is, he would be able to stay in that house on that land without owning anything, and would not be living on the streets!

A lecturer by profession, who hardly went to his job since day 1 (I am a mute spectator) – yet the irony is that he still has the job – strange why officially these things are overlooked and not reported in government services – probably bribed the officials so that he has a clean attendance record!

Scientifically it is said – genes are passed on to children – a fact proved true! His mother was a prestigious teacher of an academically well known Girls’ High School in the heart of Guwahati – an educationist– yet a witch literally at home behind closed doors, who mentally tormented her daughter-in-law (me) with taunting remarks about my mother – referred to her as a ‘Jersey Goru’ (because she used to live a lavish lifestyle courtesy my late father with no dearth of anything), false made up stories about princes and princesses sounding like fables to my sons, which actually were in line with my life, giving them a false impression about the princess’s character (me) and dishing out a pauper’s diet even when I was carrying a child in my womb.

She also referred to me as a peon’s daughter after my marriage as my father did not give much during the marriage as I had gone against everyone’s wishes – maybe they expected dowry deals and so on and on.

Interestingly unbelievable – yet true – the award winning lady borrowed an old and used suitcase and vanity case (beauty box) from her married daughter, a doctor by profession, for the ‘Juron’ ceremony- and the irony is that she demanded I return both the items right after the marriage ceremony – unbelievable indeed – both mother and daughter – has anyone heard such an incident previously – seems like a joke!!

Shrewd as he was – a cunning ‘fox’ – he never divulged how much salary he earned per month, over the years; nor did he spend a dime on household expenses, school fees, uniforms etc.

He even went to the extent of begging for money from my father and brother time and again, without my knowledge, to run his family (He even asked for money from my father for buying a two-wheeler), which they used to comply with, keeping in mind my plight! But on the contrary he always used to spend on his wayward ways. What a loving father he was – thriving on others mercy, though he was a salaried government employee! Why God gives birth to such beings is an enigma! Maybe it was a Curse on me from previous births!

He had this habit of vanishing into thin air time and again – leaving me alone with my sons, to fend for myself – the longest period I remember is about a month – God alone knows where He used to go?

After digesting my money at will, he came up with a brainwave of proving me to be a psychotic – with the connivance and help of psychiatrists in Guwahati, he started mixing medicines in my food and drink, either whole or in powder form which had a negative effect on my senses – drowsy all the time with suicidal tendencies – which I came to know much later when things tasted different and I found residue in my diet and when I vehemently demanded an explanation he did come up with the truth in Maa Kamakhya temple and said that he was doing so , so that I felt relaxed and would not be in mental tension.

He even went to the extent of teaching my younger son to do the same in his absence threatening him with dire consequences and stating that Maa (Me) would go insane if not given the medicines! He did all this deliberately so that he could prove legally in Court that I was insane – I found prescriptions in my name too. One can well imagine what he is, but is still living happily!

An incident which shows his true colours – His own father lodged a police complaint when he stabbed his own younger brother, a medical student at that time, on August 9, 1997, after an altercation with his brother over some family property dispute and fled home immediately after dumping his blood-stained clothes in the washing machine only to return about a month later.

By God’s grace his brother survived the ordeal – otherwise he would have been imprisoned, maybe for life, for attempt to murder! Yet the irony is that he is still a Government employee.

Another incident I remember is that one fine morning he asked for some money from me for boozing and gambling- which he never used to disclose anyhow, as he very well knew that I had some amount of cash stashed in my vanity box and on me refusing to part with it he broke open a steel almirah, took out my clothes and burnt them openly in the front yard with smoke billowing all around – and the neighbours came to know about it, but no one questioned why?

He used to lock me (and my sons too) inside the house, making it impossible to even come out for fresh air! Once when I felt suffocated and forcefully came out of the house, not the compound, he dragged me inside, egging my terrified sons to help him in the act mouthing indecent slang words (which was in fact a normal phenomenon) all the time.

He used to hurl abuses and use local slang words even in front of my growing up sons – even to the extent of labeling their mother a ‘prostitute’ and questioning them who their mother had slept with in his absence!

On court orders after a judicial separation case filed by me, in 2009, he was ordered to pay me Rs. 7,500 only every month when I left home in June 2009. However, he managed to come up with pleas of inability to pay the amount and said he would pay Rs. 3,500 per month. The money was never transferred in my name and he requested me to visit his home for the payment handover– when he used to torment me and threaten to end my life, violate me physically and sexually without my consent and only then hand me my dues!!

In fact he paid me only twice and the last time when I visited to collect the payment he turned violent and threatened to kill me that day and then forced himself on me. I was totally distressed and was praying to God so that I could return live from his clutches with a broken nose and multiple bruises. God’s goodwill prevailed and he dropped me home next morning, and I never returned to that hell.

I was advised by everyone including a cousin who was Additional S.P. at that time, to file a complaint in front of the IGP at that time (November 26 night, 2011) – which I did but in spite of all my injuries as evidence, no complaint was registered.

The senior officer cited that there were immense difficulties in registering such a case against a Government employee – how strange indeed–although I had been hospitalized many times with major grievous injuries – broken knee, broken nose and what not.

Do Government employees have legal cover in spite of any crime they commit? – public or domestic!!

After the November 2011 incident, I never looked back and no pleas or cajoling could melt my decision – God gave me the courage and good sense to stand tall and not bow down again to his malicious ways –never again.

He was a pervert in the sense that most of the time he demanded sexual gratification from me (his so-called better half), even with bruises or injuries all over which he created at will whenever he felt like, even during my ‘periods’ and when I was carrying a baby in my womb – when he used to kick me around like a football before embarking on his sexual violence.

His so-called better half was a ‘puppet’, which he could throw around or kick and maul and then have forced sex too. A true maniac!! In fact besides my two pregnancies I have had seven (seven) abortions- yes, that is a fact- for which I was warned by doctors not to conceive again because my obstetric history was horrible.

19 long years I bore the brunt of all the terrorism and torture, as those days you could not inform anyone instantaneously after such incidents – communication system was not as of now, when one can Whatsapp, message or video call or photograph what was going on at that moment without any delay.

Those days helpless as I was, no one knew what was happening and only when some family member dropped by (my mother had seen me with bruises, black eyes, broken bones and so on many a time) that things came to light! In later years too he had the aggressiveness to break cell phones whenever he felt like, though, to be honest he did not have the capacity to buy another phone and always knew that if anything is damaged it would definitely be replaced by my father.

I always had a feeling in the core of my heart that he would come back to normal ways and lead a normal life – and only after one decade, in 2001, did I first file a police complaint against him. Feeling disgusted and filing a complaint was also a torture for me, as I had to go to the police station on the sly, without his knowledge, because if he got a hint I would be thrashed severely.

When the police did land up at our place a few times, on my complaints, he would immediately plead his innocence and fall at their feet asking for mercy – and the moment they left the premises, he would go back to his violent self dropping his mask of innocence and start rebuking and threatening me with dire consequences and even state that I had relations with the police officers and probably had slept with them – else why would they come so promptly to help me – me being such an ordinary human being. He always used to proudly preach that I was a valueless no-gooder and he was a gazetted officer.

You might be thinking why after so much harassment I never tried to come out of this hell – My parents many times did tell me to leave everything, get a divorce and lead a separate life again – but I did not do so keeping in mind my lovely sons. They did prepare everything for filing a divorce but somehow I did not think it wise!!

Friends and well-wishers always do sympathize and request me to forget the past – I try too, but better said than done – after all a human being – those horrible memories do haunt me all the time when a broken and deviated nasal bone, puffy eyes (crying and rubbing my eyes years on end), broken teeth stare me in my eyes, every moment of my existence – very difficult indeed!

In fact, though it may sound weird, me and my two young ones had literally not shut an eyelid years on end because each night was dreadful and imminent death stared at us every moment of our lives!!

The almighty has been kind enough to bless us with our lives till date!

Such criminals in the guise of saints should be punished – if not by law, then by the creator in this lifetime – that is my ardent prayer to the Almighty!!

This is just a short summary of events which unfolded for almost two decades at Rajgarh Road, Guwahati – a “hell on earth”! It is not possible to pen down each and every incident that had occurred as it will run into volumes and I hope that by glancing through this gist people will be able to visualize what “hell on earth” actually means!!

God forbid no one goes through such a trauma in their lives!

Adios!