"Sarita's away in Warangal,' Parvata Reddy told HRK. It was past 7 pm, and villagers tend to be suspicious of strangers who walk out of the dark. I moved to a well-lit portion of the courtyard. He looked closely. Better sight led to better memory. He recalled meeting me two years ago. He also remembered that Sarita was aactually in the village, and was willing to show us the way. As he went inside to get his footwear, hrk , a seasoned journalist from Hyderabad, raised his eyebrows: "Why did he lie?' Later, I was to realise he'd also lied two years ago about being Sarita's father.

That was June 18, 2004, when I'd met her at her parents' in Nawabpeta village of Karimnagar's Chigurumamidi mandal, Andhra Pradesh. It was 25 days after her husband Mahendra Reddy had killed himself. A farmer of the neighbouring Kondapur village, he had been humiliated by creditors for failing to clear debts. He left behind Bunny, his two-year-old daughter, and Sarita, who was three months pregnant (see