"AN OPPRESSED WOMAN" 

BY AFAQ KHAN

Once upon a time, there was a little pretty, and intelligent girl whose name was Sarah. She belonged to a middle-class family that was too strict and narrow-minded. She was living in Bannu city. She was so fond of getting an education. She wanted to be an English Professor. She always got up early in the morning so that she could go to school on time and never got late. She used to study at Pennel High School, Bannu City. She always got 1^st position in her class, while English subject was her favorite one. She was able to speak English fluently since she was a little child, and that was what she always loved a lot.

After she completed school, she wanted to go to Peshawar to continue studying and wanted to get admission at Edwards College Peshawar. She knocked at the door and entered into her parents’ room. Her father was sitting in a chair while her mother was laying down in the bed. She went near to them and sat down. She said to her parents, “Good morning mom and dad, I hope you both are fine”. Her parents said, “Yes my little princess, we are okay thanks”. She again said to her father, “Dad, I have to tell you guys something important. As you both know that I have completed my school and now, I want to go to Peshawar so that I can continue to study ahead”.

Her father got quiet for a while and the smile he had on his face, went away. He said to Sarah,” That is impossible. We can never allow you to go there and live in a hostel on your own. If you want to continue studying, then study here, and you aren’t going anywhere.” She got tears in her beautiful brown eyes and the tears were dropping over her gorgeous white face like an angel. As soon as she heard all that, she got out of her parents’ room and went into hers. She went to bed and got inside her blanket to hide her tears and was asking herself why her parents never listened to her. Her parents never supported her in her decisions but always oppressed her and made her do what they liked.

After that, she got admission to the University of Science and Technology, Bannu. She wanted to study BS English Literature and Linguistics, but her parents didn’t allow her to study that and she was forced to study Microbiology that she never wanted to study. After she began going to the University, she was doing well in her studies. Suddenly, she came across a man there. As soon as he saw Sarah wearing a beautiful dress and looked like an angel that had come down on earth and her gorgeous face was shining like the moon shines in the night.

He fell in love with her at first sight, and she became his first sight love. Someday, he came to her and politely said, “Hello How are you? What is your name? and Where are you from?”. She said in return, “I’m fine thank you and I belong to Bannu City”. He said to Sarah, “My name is Khan, and I belong to Lahore”. That was how they started to talk to each other and became good friends and later, she also fell for him. They were sitting in the cafeteria of the University, eating, drinking, and laughing together.

Her father suddenly appeared there and became very angry after seeing his daughter sitting with a stranger man. He angrily said to Sarah, “What the hell is going on? Why are you here sitting with a stranger talking and laughing like that?”. He grabbed her hand, pushed her away, and got her back home. He angrily said to his wife, “Your daughter was sitting, eating, and laughing with a stranger man. She isn’t lesser than a prostitute to me now. She was deceiving us in the back and we sent her there to get an education but not fall in love with a stranger man”. Sarah was standing right there and hearing all that. Her mom looked at Sarah and said, “What? Is that all true Sarah?”. But Sarah was quiet and didn’t say a single word. Her mom grabbed her and took her in her room and locked her up there.

Now, her parents were very angry with her and decided not to let her go to university anymore. They made her leave her education in the middle of her degree. Her dad said to her mom, “We should get her married before she becomes the dark spot of this family and makes the society start gossiping about us”. Her mom looked at him in a very innocent way and said, “Yes, you are right. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to a marriage broker to get us a nice family so that we can get her married with.” Her husband was quiet and just said, “Hmm, okay but as soon as you can”.

After a few days, she talked to a marriage broker to get her daughter a nice family. What she did to Sarah, was terrible. The marriage broker got them a very rich family who lived in the US, but they lied to Sarah’s family that their son, Peter had a big business in America and he had this and that and the truth was that their son was a little mental who had a little bit problem with his brain and didn’t even know how to talk to a wife and spend time with her and he was a very angry man who used to start to hit if someone didn’t do what he wanted them to do for him.

Sarah’s family agreed to get her daughter married to Peter. Because they thought they had found a very rich and nice family for her daughter who lived in the US but didn’t even care to ask or investigate a bit about Peter. When Sarah found that out that her parents had decided to send her to the US. She went to talk to her parents. “Why are you doing this to me? I don’t want to go to the US. Please mom and dad don’t send me that far away”, She said all that while having tears in her beautiful eyes. “We don’t know anything, and you’re getting married to Peter in a few days”, her parents said.

As soon as she got married in a few days, she went to live with Peter in the US. Peter entered his room on the wedding night. Sarah was sitting in her bed wearing the most beautiful wedding dress in which she looked like the Queen of the world. Peter set down by her side and said, “Sarah, get up and switch off the lights I’m too tired and get me some water please”. Sarah got shocked to hear all that that it was their wedding night and he was asking her to get him some water. She did as he asked her to and they went to get some sleep.

In the early morning, when Peter woke up and saw Sarah’s hand laying on him, he got furious and pushed her hand away and suddenly, Sarah woke up and he angrily said to her, “What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you put your hand on me? Next time you do that, I’ll break your both hands”. Sarah started to cry on the first day of her marriage. After a few hours, she was working in the kitchen and a plate was fallen by her that made a bit of noise and Peter reached there and looked at her like he was looking at an animal. “Are you crazy? Why did you break the plate stupid woman?” he said and slapped her in the face.

She started to cry and ran away to hide her tears. She made a call to her family and said, “Dad, Peter doesn’t behave normally. There is something wrong with him, and he isn’t a good man. He pushed away my hand in the morning and now, he slapped me in the face because a single plate was fallen and broken. her parents didn’t listen to her and said to her, “We know that you’re not happy with this marriage, and that is why you are lying all that”. She was crying and cut the phone off.

After two days, she was pressing the clothes, and the iron fell and broke. Peter came to her in anger and again slapped her in the back and said to her, “Why do you break everything? What’s your problem, you crazy woman?”. She again made a call to her parents and told them that he slapped her in the back, but they didn’t listen to her. Peter started to beat her up every other day. Sarah got tired of all that. She went on the top roof of her house crying in the way, and she jumped from there and took her life like that. When their parents found out that Sarah had a suicide, and she had taken her life by jumping from the top roof of the house. They started to cry and regret it. “Would, we ever once listened to Sarah she would be alive today”, her parents said. But Sarah wasn’t there anymore.