I passed my class 12th exam with 87 percent marks. I was pretty disappointed as my sister and cousins had all scored above 90 percent. I realised that my percentage had suffered because of Mathematics and this caused me to lose interest in the subject. But my parents had other plans for me and wanted me to pursue engineering. On my sister’s suggestion, my father got me admission in a coaching class to help me with the subject. I was very upset but my father promised that if I scored well in the first semester Math exam, I could discontinue the tuition. But I wasn’t able to, so my father and I decided to continue the classes.
The classes were conducted by a middle-aged teacher in his house. The class timings were flexible and we could go whenever we wanted to clear our doubts. I rarely asked the teacher to clear my doubts though. Due to this, one day he saw me talking to another student in class and as punishment, asked me to sit in another room which was empty. He came after a while and asked me to show him my work. During our conversation, he placed his hand on my shoulder and started massaging it. It was really awkward and uncomfortable but I decided not to mention it to anybody.
After a few days it happened again. He stopped me on the pretext of checking my notes this time. While in the room, he had my notes in one hand and with the other started fondling my breasts. I moved away from him quickly but he tried to come closer. Thankfully, another student came to the class right then and I was saved. After the incident, I tried to talk to my friends in the class subtly but they were all praises for him. His torture continued for months. I was helpless. Even when I threatened him that I would tell my parents, he told me he had disturbing pictures of my sisters and friends and would leak them if I uttered a single word. I was so scared that I couldn’t tell anybody anything.
I stopped going to the classes, trying to protecting myself. But he found a way around that as well. He called my dad and told him that he was waving off 50 percent of my fee because I was so bright. Once I was back in his class, he tried to touch me inappropriately again. Somehow, I got myself out of the situation but I hurt my hand in the process. Disturbed, I sat in a park near my house to figure out how to protect myself. A friend noticed me and came and sat with me. Seeing my hand, he asked me what had happened. Despite my wish to tell him the truth, I told him that I fell from my cycle.
Back home, I finally broke down. My sister heard me crying and as soon as she asked, I couldn’t help but tell her everything. She assured me that she’ll handle it from there. The next day, at the class, the teacher offered me a glass of juice. I was so terrified of him by now that I couldn’t even refuse it. Suddenly I noticed that his house was deserted. As soon as I tried to walk out of the room, he grabbed me and threw me on the bed. My head was spinning and I realised that he had spiked the drink. He started kissing me and the last thought I had was that this was the end.
As soon as I came back to my senses, I saw my sister standing next to me and my friend holding the teacher. From what I heard, my sister had come running when she got a text from me saying that I was going to watch a movie (which apparently the teacher had sent from my phone) but my cycle was outside the coaching centre. Thankfully, she saved me that day but I will never forget how my teacher, a man I was supposed to respect and look up to, violated my body and sexually assaulted me!
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