Surprisingly as a young daughter of extremely strict parents, you are allowed to go overseas to a top university in the UK or US for your education. You are very pretty and attract a lot of attention from men so it took a lot of convincing and the fact that it was a top university. Once overseas, you do not date, focus on your studies, and do extremely well.
Coming back the next summer, you find your parents in an extremely foul mood. Apparently the daughter of one of your dad’s friends who went overseas just like you, got pregnant with one of the overseas “locals.” Your strict dad is immediately suspicious of you. He knows your very attractive and one day in a car, starts claiming that you had relations with boys. You try to calmly deny, rightfully claiming you are a good daughter, when he loses his temper, starts screaming at you not to lie to him and hits you hard across the face. You sit silently frozen in fear, while your dad continues to rant about how he should have never let you go overseas. Finally as he pulls into the driveway, he spits out that he will marry you before he loses control over you completely.
You run inside sobbing and tell your mum. She looks at you with narrowed eyes and says your dad is right.
A week later you are sitting in your room, when your hear your parents welcoming people into the house. You walk downstairs curiously. A young man is leering at you. His parents are there. The boy wants to marry you his parents say. They make an introduction, the boy’s father is your dad’s boss. You are speechless, you did not expect any rishtas for several more years. Your dad says you need time to decide and saying goodbye’s, the family leaves the house. You say no to your parents.
For the next three weeks, your mom and dad verbally abuse you and slowly tear down your self esteem. Your dad yells about how worthless you are and even physically hits you a few times. Your old grandmother comes and tells you to think of how much effort she spent helping raise you when you were younger. You are a depressed wreck of tears when you agree. You do not like the boy nor the way his face looked when he stared at you. But what can you do?
Quickly your father conveys the affirmative. A nikah is done and you and the boy are officially engaged. The wedding will take place right after you get your degree. You find out that you will live with your in laws after marriage and wont be allowed to work. The few conversations you had with the boy make you dislike him all the more.
You go back overseas to your university. Your grades suffer. Your situation is hopeless.
You look in the mirror and see your pretty face looking back at you. You hate it. Before being beautiful gave you joy, now looking in the mirror, you smash it into pieces. Resolving to get rid of your good looks you blame for doing this to you, and to indirectly punish your parents along the boy you are set to marry, you decide to look ugly. Over the next two years (you stayed for summer school this time), you binge eat. The food gives you comfort and temporarily raises you out of a depressed state. You stop exercising. What is the point? After two years of utter disregard for your health, you balloon to 350Ibs.
You receive your diploma, and get on a plane back to Pakistan with your parents there to meet you at the gate, having not seen you for two years.
…
What do you guys think of this situation?
How do you think the girl’s (your) parents will react when they see you?
How do you think the boy and his family will react?
For the men on life1, if the girl you were engaged to marry did this, what would you do?
Any other thoughts on the situation? What do you think will happen?
