It is a true story. Neelima (name changed to protect identity) got married last month to the man of her choice. She married out of her community and caste. My cousin twice removed had broken taboos and all of us silently applauded her. Neelima grew up knowing that her mother had no option but to stay married to her father — the man who had no job and sat at home chewing tobacco, not helping either with the income or with doing chores. As an engineering student in the ’70s, he abused prescription drugs and lost his mental balance. His parents refused to admit that there was something wrong with their handsome son, and asserted that once he was married off, all his ‘problems’ would end. Instead, his problems kept multiplying. He produced three children but couldn’t provide for them. His poor wife was forced to hunt for odd jobs while his parents used up all their retirement funds to sustain their son’s family in the village home. It was a hard life, especially when relatives came visiting. As children we didn’t know how to reach out to Neelima and her younger siblings. The chasm ran deep. We were privileged city cousins who wore shoes and jeans, we spoke fluent English, and we laughed without a care. They didn’t.

Justice denied: 24,206 cases of rape were reported across the country last year but only a quarter of them ended in conviction