I'm a Master in India

Anand walked through the corridor, escorted by the cell supervisor and several prison guards through the jail, arriving at one of the many large dormitories.

That large dormitory was twenty meters long, ten meters wide, with a high ceiling.

There were iron-barred windows offering views of the open area around the building, and a tall iron door at each end of the dormitory.

Near one of the iron doors, there was a bathroom with three clean squat toilets inside.

They gave Anand five minutes to wash off the bloodstains on his face, neck, and arms, using the extremely clean squat toilets.

Inside the large dormitory were one hundred and eighty inmates and twenty cell supervisors.

A quarter of the area inside was specifically for the cell supervisors, who had their own clean blankets.

When sleeping, they could stack multiple blankets to form soft floor mats, leaving space between each other.

The others were squeezed into two rows in the remaining three-quarters area, with a clear dividing line between them and the supervisors.

Regular inmates also had one blanket, usually piled neatly folded in the corner.

When sleeping, they would take them down, lying on the narrow blankets, shoulder to shoulder.

Their heads were against the wall, and their feet were arranged towards the middle of the dormitory. The bright night lights would always be on, and the on-duty supervisors would take turns walking between the two rows of feet.

They patrolled back and forth, all carrying whistles. The whistles hung below their necks and were used to summon prison guards when they encountered something they couldn't handle.

Anand was asked to sleep in the regular inmate area. He took a blanket from the corner and spread it out next to Anil.

He couldn't sleep the first night, not because of his injuries, but because of the lice hidden in the blanket disturbing his peace.

They bit and stung, the size of thumbtacks. Each time, they would suck their bellies round, and when placed on the stone floor and pressed with a hand, they were full of blood.

Inmates in the prison were bitten several times every night. Those round wounds would soon fester and become pustules.

Inmates who had been there long enough might even have over a hundred festering, infected wounds on their bodies, with nothing that could cure them.

Anand wanted to get up and catch the lice, but Anil warned him not to act rashly.

Because the supervisors would severely beat anyone who wasn't sleeping, and resisting them was impossible.

"No matter what they do, to save your life, absolutely do not fight back. This is not a world for the living, brother, we are all dead men here, there is nothing you can do!"

Although Anand listened, he was still hit with a bamboo stick by the on-duty supervisor, for no reason.

In the following days, this situation repeatedly occurred. The supervisors beat him during meals, while washing, and even when going out for recreation, he was beaten for no reason.

Anand remained silent, enduring the repeated special targeting.

There was always a driving force in his heart: to get the message out.

As long as Ron Baba knew he was here, he would definitely come to rescue him. He firmly believed this.

The supervisors escalated their actions, not allowing him to go to the washbasin early, but making him stay until last.

At one end of the washbasin, there was a large valve that an inmate would turn on every morning for everyone to wash.

However, the water supply was not unlimited; it would stop flowing when the water level in the tank above dropped below a certain point.

As soon as the valve was opened, hundreds of inmates would rush forward, jostling to grab the thin stream of water from a small pipe.

By the time Anand came forward with his aluminum basin, only trickling drops were left in the pipe, and even more terrifyingly, there were hundreds of water worms wriggling in the water like threads.

"Brother, they live in the tank. When the water level is low, the water worms come out of the pipes. But they don't bite, they're much cuter than lice."

Anil held the aluminum basin full of water worms, poured the water over his chest and back, and then held it under the pipe again to collect another basin.

Although the water at the beginning was clean, many people were scrambling for it. By the end, when there was no one left, a few people could actually take a proper bath.

Anand certainly knew water worms; he had always lived in the Slum and was not unfamiliar with these little creatures.

They would quickly die when exposed to air, so there was no need to worry about them becoming parasites on the body.

He held his basin under the pipe with increasingly less water, collecting it, and then poured the water full of wriggling worms into his shorts.

The weather in Mumbai had begun to turn mild, and without bathing, his body would quickly become a nest for lice.

As expected, Anand was hit with several more sticks because he was last in line for washing.

He endured it, and even stopped getting angry at the supervisors.

Because two young inmates were about to be released; they were Marathi, and their village was not far from Anand's hometown.

They were illiterate village youths who came to Mumbai, encountered a police sweep for unemployed youth, and were arrested in a daze.

These two had not been formally charged with anything but had stayed in prison for three months and were now finally being released.

Anand met with the two men and told them the name Ron. Sur and where to find him.

He promised that once they were released, he would give them generous compensation, including arranging jobs for them.

The two youths put their hands together in a gesture of blessing, then left, with bright, optimistic smiles on their faces.

Later that day, the supervisor suddenly ordered everyone to assemble. His tone was rougher than usual, and he told the inmates to squat down against the wall, covering their heads.

Soon, Anand saw the two young men who had wanted to help him being dragged into the dormitory and thrown onto the open space in the middle.

They were nearly unconscious, having suffered a severe beating. Wounds on their faces were bleeding, their lips were swollen, and their eyes were bruised.

Their bare arms and legs were covered in snake-skin like scars from being whipped with iron-sheeted bamboo sticks, just like Anand's body.

"These two dogs wanted to carry a message outside for that Dalit," the head supervisor roared. "Anyone who wants to help that Dalit will end up like this, understand?

Now these two dogs still have to stay in jail, on my territory, for another six months! Six months! Anyone of you who dares to help him will suffer this fate!"

Anil looked at Anand with fearful eyes, as if to say, "Brother, the trouble is really big now, no one will help you from now on."

The truth was, Anand's trouble was even bigger.

The group of supervisors gathered and discussed for a few moments, then surrounded him.

They forced him to lie on his back, his head against the iron bars. Then they found iron handcuffs from somewhere and cuffed Anand's hands tightly above his head.

Next, they took coconut rope and tied his two legs together at the ankles.

The head supervisor squatted down, leaned his face close, and smiled.

If you want to know how evil a person's heart is, just look at his smile.

They began to beat him, striking him fiercely in turns, focusing on his face and below the waist.

They kept beating him for over twenty minutes until they were breathless and could no longer lift the bamboo sticks.

The bamboo sticks were embedded in Anand's flesh, breaking his skin from head to toe.

Anand suddenly began to laugh, a silent laugh, as he watched them.

The supervisors seemed provoked. They continued to beat him, even calling supervisors from the next cell block to take turns.

Anand was a bloody mess, his eyes almost unable to open due to scabbing.

But he was still laughing, a laugh of absolute defiance.

He thought he was probably going to die, his hope extinguished, his entire world gray and cold.

He, this Dalit in the eyes of others, decided to defy all the living people, those standing before him, before he died.

This completely enraged the supervisors. They dragged him away, putting a metal ring around his neck, like dragging a dog.

They dragged him to the outdoor area, under a large tree, and then made everyone come out to watch.

Anand's limbs were also tied with ropes and pulled taut into an '大' (big) shape. Three people on each rope pulled with all their might, as if to tear off his arms and legs.

He was placed on a large stone, his left arm pulled straight. Then a supervisor also climbed onto the large stone and jumped onto Anand's left arm.

Crack, the arm was broken backward, flesh and bone making a sickening crunch.

Anand couldn't scream because his mouth was gagged, and the collar around his neck was too tight.

The veins on his neck seemed about to burst, his legs began to twitch and convulse, and violent trembling spread throughout his body.

Several supervisors turned him around one hundred and eighty degrees, placing his right arm on the large stone.

The same person went up again. He first scanned around ostentatiously, then leaped onto the right arm.

The right arm snapped, and Anand fainted.

The supervisors pulled the ropes, dragging him away from the open space. His arms were behind him, dragging limply and lifelessly on the ground with a slapping sound.

After venting their rage, the supervisors became worried that Anand wouldn't survive.

So they wanted to find some painkillers to give him, but there was no doctor in the prison.

They carried Anand out of the dormitory, through several clean, spotless courtyards, to a tree-lined walkway.

On both sides of the path were open areas surrounded by fences, and on the open area was a guard post.

A new prison guard was here, rumored to be smuggling drugs to inmates.

Common medications like anti-inflammatories and painkillers were always in high demand in prison.

Supervisors sometimes acted as brokers, helping these prison guards sell drugs to inmates.

They carried the person inside. The new prison guard was sitting there chewing betel nut, looking dejected.

Anyone who was originally a formidable street patrol officer receiving bribes daily, but was suddenly thrown in with habitual offenders where there wasn't much profit, would have a long face.

It was said that his wife had an affair, this guy filed for divorce, and immediately afterwards he was transferred to a different post; it was his father-in-law from his wife's family who wanted to give him a hard time.

"What game are you playing now? Killing someone is quite troublesome."

"Officer, we accidentally went too far." The head supervisor said with a fawning smile, "What kind of medicine do you think we should give him?"

The prison guard yawned and got up with an impatient look.

He walked closer, squatted down, and checked the condition of the figure on the ground.

Just as he pushed aside the sweat-soaked, dirty, and matted hair, his hand froze in mid-air.

Anand had woken up. Bouncing along the way, a thousand wounds on his body were screaming.

He struggled to lift his head, open his eyes, and then saw the prison guard in front of him, Rajesh.

The patrol officer at Victoria Train Station, the first one they had bribed.

Rajesh recognized Anand almost instantly. Although he was tortured beyond recognition, his body thinner than a monkey with not much flesh left, he still recognized him at a glance.

He wanted to shout, but suddenly saw Anand's mouth shape.

He understood, and stood up angrily.

"Look at him! You idiots! He looks like he's been skinned!"

"Officer, it was the boss who told us to beat him." Several supervisors reluctantly pushed the responsibility onto each other.

The "boss" they referred to was the head of the prison guards, the highest-ranking officer at Arthur Road Jail.

"I told you to beat him, not kill him!"

Rajesh quickly got up, pulled out a few pills from the drawer, and personally poured water to feed them into Anand's mouth.

"What happened to his arms?"

"This Dalit wanted someone to take a message out, so we taught him a lesson."

"Broken bones? You fools are really bold, don't you understand the prison rules? You can draw blood, but you can't break bones!"

"Officer, then... what do you think we should do?" The supervisors had rushed to find medicine precisely because they knew this rule.

Now, being scared by Rajesh, they were also a bit afraid.

"You take good care of him, he can't suffer any more harm! And don't make a fuss, I'll go find a doctor, there's a guy who's very good with external injuries."

Rajesh left in a hurry, and the supervisors nervously guarded around.

Anand was laughing, laughing with tears, laughing with his whole body trembling.