Aruna Shanbaug Poem by Afshan Fatima

She was a nurse,
a caring and happy one
and was too busy
in her wedding preparations
but suddenly
a ward boy came in the dark
and clasped her
with fetters used for dogs.
He raped her,
assaulted her,
caressed brutally
and tried to strangle her delicate neck
and left her to die
but she did not depart
for the next forty two years.
waited her culprit to be punished
on her death bed
in her coma
she could only yearn
deep within her heart
but in vain as he was freed.
Along with her honor,
she lost her voice an sight too;
symbolizing the world
in which a tortured one is not heard
so her voice departed.
Because the world is not worth seeing
so her sight gone.
she transformed from a beautiful young maid
to an old withered corpse
only on her hospital bed.