Last week, Mary and Aunty talked to the police and Ranjini about her divorce case. The police were preparing the case, and her court date is likely one year from now given the clogged legal system. She and husband do have to go through one round of counseling, as a requirement, but Mary remains adamant that she wants no part of him in her life.
The police also said that, if found guilty, husband (who remains behind bars as nobody has bothered to bail him out) could get up to seven years for assault and battery. Aunty asked the police what would happen if she went to bail him out -- the policewoman simply said, "then the responsibility for he does next to Mary is on you."
The thought that the man could be in jail for seven years took a while to sink in, as -- although he clearly deserves it given what he's done to Mary over the many years of their marriage -- during seven years, many things could change. Aunty commented that his neighborhood would be different, his kids would be grown, and Mary would have by then moved on to a new life.
