Shhh! Don’t tell anyone

“Shhh…Don’t tell anyone”…I overheard the voice from behind the bushes while I was returning with my friends from the playground. I checked my watch; it was 7 pm. The Sun was ready to set, birds were flying back to their nests, and the cows were retreating to their shed.

I was startled to hear the voice, and it echoed inside me. I had moved a few steps, but an inner instinct stopped me from moving further, and I smelled something fishy about it.

“Hey Guys, wait… something is going on behind the bushes…we should check it out,” I said to my friends.

“What happened, Pranav? Are you okay?” They asked me in unison.

“Yes, I am ok… See, while crossing that spot near the playground, I heard someone saying Shhh…don’t tell anyone…Let’s go and check.” I told them.

“Come on Yaar, Don’t be too judgmental & curious. It said Don’t tell anyone and you are the one spilling out the beans…let’s go fast; we are getting late for the classes.” They said and took fast steps towards the hostel.

I was in shock and could not move further. My friend Jai waited, and others retreated towards the hostel.

Jai and I went back near the bushes. We could hear a faint cry coming from behind the bushes.

We tiptoed towards the spot, and the scene that I saw with my naked eyes stopped our heartbeats.

There were two men in the age group of 40s, and they were busy molesting a boy of ten years. The boy was shivering with fear and crying in a faint voice…Shhh! Don’t tell anyone

“Chup Raho…else you will be eliminated if you don’t cooperate. If you cooperate, we will give you lots of gifts.”

I had heard it in the news but had never confronted such an incident.

We were in a fix. What to do next?

Anyhow, we managed to move out of the place without making any noise, and after going a few furlongs away from the site, I called up my friends and briefed them about the incident and the place and asked them to inform the police.

I called my mother and told her about the incident I had seen. She got nervous and told me, “Beta, Shhh, Don’t tell anyone about this incident. Don’t go out of the hostel.”

“Why, Mom… why don’t you want me to tell anyone? Someday, I can be the victim. Just feel the pain of that boy and how his parents will react if they come to know.

There is nothing to hide. I have informed my friends and asked them to inform the police so that he can be spared.” I said, and tears welled in my eyes…Shhh! Don’t tell anyone

PS: It is a piece of fiction, but the incident illustrated is a sad truth, and the social perspective of hiding such incidents actually encourages the morons, and such incidents are on a spree.