Blackmail or Not

It happened that her husband had died some two years ago and in the absence of a bread winner, life had been hell for her and her four children . Needless to say that she had been facing constant harassment from her landlord over her inability to offset the rent which was long overdue.

On that fateful day, Esther had returned home from the market only to meet a most disgusting sight. The landlord was almost in the process of molesting her 13 years old daughter who was still recovering from an illness. With an anger and revulsion that was closely knitted with previous cruelty she had been suffering in the hands of this man, Esther picked up a stool and smashed it on his baldness.

The landlord fell to the floor without a sound, and began to bleed like a pig from his cracked skull. No sooner had the deed been done that Esther realized the grave consequence of her thoughtless action, she began to scream for help and her daughter began to cry.

In less than a minute, all the neighbors rushed into Esther's room. The men bundled the bloodied body of the landlord and broke into a mad rush to the nearest clinic and the women were ordered to hold Esther to make sure she doesn't escape.

Obviously, the cops didn't believe Esther when she told them amidst hard tears that the landlord was about to rape her sick daughter, despite she regretted her reaction to the situation. The policemen never cared to get a statement from her little daughter, even though she was the bone of contention. She had been totally ignored. Their only focus was to lock up her Mom. Esther spent more than a week in police custody. Every day, her children would come to spend sometime with her. Amidst tears, she advice's her daughter on her to take care of her younger siblings incase she never returned home.

Fortunately for them, the landlord recovered from the accident. Esther was released on the day he was discharged from the hospital. One of the policeman told Esther that she should consider herself very lucky. Had it been her landlord had died from the terrible smash, she would definitely spend the rest of her life in jail. She was also advised to go thank the landlord for deciding not to press charges against her. Even the neighbors at home repeated the exact words of the policeman. But no one observed or remarked that Esther's young daughter was also lucky for escaping rape.

I came across this story in opera news some weeks ago and I discussed it with a a friend. In her opinion, She blamed Esther over overreacting by allowing her emotions to get the best part of her. She mentioned a better way that Esther could have handled such a situation and She would have her landlord wrapped round her fingers for as long as possible.

Threatening to expose the landlord to the public and police with pictures or video evidences would definitely make him be at her mercy. As a man who had a reputation to protect, he would be left with no choice than to allow her remain on the property for as long as she wanted and cancel her outstanding debt. Her financial burdens might be lessened if she still went ahead and demand for money for her silence. She would be the new sheriff in town. "No rest for the wicked" .... My friend had said

Well, maybe blackmail might not be as easy as it seems in the movies. Esther's life could be in danger if she continues to be a threat to her landlord in his own house. He could always disguise his involvement if something terrible ever happened to her.

By the way, how are we sure the public or police would believe her if she decided to shame the landlord since they never believed her the first time. And even though they did, nothing might be done about him. Things are quite different in my parts of the world.

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Thanks for reading.

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