/ 202 cover story / sideline here
“ To me , it was like complete degradation ,” she says . “ I got angry and when he thought he was losing that hold on me , that control , he went absolutely nuts . That same week , he beat me worse than he ever beat me before . He raped me ; I was strangled . The top of my spine cracked twice .”
“ He punched me ; my face was swollen . I had black eyes and he broke my nose . My lips were busted , I had internal bleeding . One of my teeth fell out just two weeks ago . I had bruises and fingerprints all over my body .”
“ I remember he was on top of me ,– I ’ m 90 pounds , he ’ s 190 pounds – he was strangling me . I remember feeling and seeing stars and getting a head rush and feeling like I was going to pass out . I remember thinking , ‘ Oh my God , I ’ m going to die right here .’ And at that moment , because the pain was so intense , I wanted to .”
But she survived .
For whatever reason , he stopped . And before he confiscated her personal belongings ( something he did frequently to prevent her from calling friends or family for help ), she was able to take photos which served as evidence when she reported him to the police . She pressed charges and on Feb . 28 , he was found guilty on three counts of assault and battery . Now , Mehta is free to get her life back to normal .
“ I was a prisoner of war for two years ,” she says . Moving forward with pressing criminal charges has been a process she calls “ empowering ”, even though his six-month sentence wasn ’ t nearly the punishment she feels he deserves .
“ I ’ m not vindicated . This is somebody who destroyed me for two years . Now I have however long it ’ s going to take me to heal from this . I have severe post traumatic stress disorder , I was diagnosed with hearing loss because of the blows to the head . I ’ ve been constantly dizzy , have post concussion syndrome ... God knows how many months , days and years I have to take just to get my power back , my strength back .”
But she is . For Mehta , making the decision to leave him , and not the other way around , was just one of the many ways she took charge of her life again . The excitement in her voice returns as she describes many other positive outcomes from her journey , such as a renewed outlook on life . “ I ’ m so grateful for the smallest things every single day that I never was before ,” she says . “ I have my life back , I ’ m just getting my life back .”
Mehta ’ s is a life filled with many passions . Although she is no longer pursuing acting , she is looking forward to painting again and re-joining the ballet , the latter of which she was a part of for 15 years but had to abandon because of her physical injuries .
She ’ s also exploring a career doing international PR for luxury hotels and possibly moving abroad . “ I meet the most diverse people from all over the world ; I can use my language skills , you meet government ambassadors , royalty , it ’ s just an amazing arena , just a treat to all the senses .”
Although her sights are set on a foreign relocation , she still considers Awhatukee her true home . “ I grew up here ; I went to middle school here , high school , I graduated from ASU . I spent a good 10 years of my life here before I started traveling everywhere and my parents live here so it ’ s kind of always been a home base .”
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202 MAGAZINE \ JULY 2013 \ 202magazine . com
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