When her own mother wouldn't help this 16-year-old, it was a 'police didi' who rescued her after three months of rape by her father. Assistant Police Inspector Ratna Khandelwal had gone to the survivor's school, to teach kids about good touch and bad touch. "I gave the lecture on July 16, and 10 days later, the principal called and said the girl wanted to meet 'police didi'. At first she was quiet, but slowly she narrated all the incidents of sexual assault," the cop recalled.

The Agripada police arrested the father, a 45-year-old labourer. In April, while his wife and sons were out, he asked his mother-in-law to go outside, and then forced himself on the girl. This repeated several times over the months. "The girl confided in her mother, a maid, who said she was cooking up the story to avoid studies," said an officer. "We registered a case under IPC Section 376 (rape) and the POCSO Act," said Sawlaram Agawane, senior inspector.