Meera was the quiet one in her first-year engineering batch. Fair skin, long black hair usually tied in a simple braid, and a body that filled out her modest kurtis and long skirts in ways she never seemed to notice. She came from a strict middle-class family in Indore. No boyfriends, no late nights, just classes, library, and the hostel. Her friends called her “sanskari Meera.” She smiled politely and kept to herself.

It was the last week before the semester break. The college campus was half-empty. Most students had already left for home. Meera had stayed back to finish a lab report and catch an early morning train the next day. That evening she went to the deserted computer lab near the old workshop block to print her files. The corridor lights were dim. She didn’t notice the four senior boys watching her from the shadows near the back entrance.