Maragana Girl Ch. 15

"I don't know, your honor. I don't know if I can change or not. Criminal # 98945 has placed faith in me. I cannot answer, even in my own heart, whether or not I deserve that faith she has placed in me."

The judge leaned back, thought for a few seconds, then leaned back forward.

"You gave me an honest answer, Malka Chorno. You don't know. If you don't know, then maybe there is hope for you. Fine. Here is my verdict. There is no doubt in my mind that you are quite guilty of all of the charges pending against you. Those charges include the crimes of insurrection, simple assault, assault against a public official while in performance of his duty, and abuse of the authority of your former public position. In ordinary circumstances the convictions would require you to wear the criminal's collar for 18 years. However, in your case I will not put a definite time limit to your sentence. If I am persuaded you are able to fulfill the faith that Criminal # 98945 and Spokesman Dukov have placed in you, then I will suspend your sentence and allow you to return to the National Police Academy. I am giving you something that you clearly don't deserve, the hope that someday you can redeem your life. Do you understand me?"

"Yes your honor."

"Criminal # 98945, I want to thank you for your gesture of concern for what is best for our country. I don't really know what to say, other than your thoughtfulness and consideration go far beyond what I would expect from a person only 19 years old. If you decide to carry through with surrendering the badge of former Officer Chorno, I will notify the director of the National Police Academy. He will receive the badge from you directly. Then it will be up to former Officer Chorno to earn it back."

"Thank you, your honor."

"This court is ready to pronounce the tentative sentence of former National Police Officer Malka Chorno."

With that, Malka dropped to her knees.

"Item One: Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno will wear the criminal's collar for an undetermined period of time. The collar will identify her as a criminal, monitor her movements, and alert the police should she try to leave this city. For duration of her sentence Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno is prohibited from traveling more than 10 kilometers from this courthouse."

"Item Two: for the duration of her sentence Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno is prohibited from covering any part of her body with any article of clothing. She has disgraced herself and our city with her actions, and Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno's disgrace will be shown to the world as a result of this sentence."

"Item three. Finally, for the duration of her sentence, however long that should be, Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno will receive a vigorous punishment on the naked buttocks and thighs with the leather belt originally issued to her as part of her police uniform every 120 days. Every 120 days Former National Police Officer Malka Chorno will be immobilized on the punishment table and beaten to the limit of her endurance, in accordance with the standard treatment for a former member of the National Police Force."

"Malka Chorno, you are now convicted and sentenced. You will descend to the foot of my desk to receive your collar."

Malka quietly knelt as the collar device closed around her neck. There was the familiar hiss and dull click signaling the final locking of the collar. Like every other criminal sentenced in the courtroom, Malka's hands went involuntarily to her neck, to finger the metal that now separated her from her life as a police officer. She had finished crossing to the other side. Malka Chorno had become a convicted criminal.

Malka was now to be punished. The table was waiting for her, but Kim noticed the restraints were set up differently. Instead of bending over the table, Malka would lie on top, with her wrists and ankles strapped to the table's four corners. As a former police officer, the protocol of her punishment would be somewhat different from that of an ordinary criminal.

Besides the different position, the punishment of a former police officer in Upper Danubia was different from the punishment of the average criminal in other ways. Because police officers punished ordinary criminals with switches, the National Police Code of Conduct prohibited switches from being used on police officers, even former ones. A former police officer instead always was punished with his or her police belt, beaten on both the bottom and the backs of the thighs. A former police officer always was punished by police officers of higher rank. In Malka's case that meant only the precinct's section chiefs could punish her, since she had the highest rank possible for a patrolwoman.

The Chief of the Danube City division of the Danubian National Police approached the punishment table, holding Malka's police belt. The belt, stripped of its accessories, was a simple thick leather strap, very heavy and pliable from being used for several years. It was the only part of Malka's uniform that would remain with her. Once her punishment was finished she would have to wear it around her waist, and bring it with her to her next punishment. Now however, it would remain in the hands of Malka's former bosses, who would take turns punishing her.

Dukov saluted the Chief of Police as Malka knelt. She kissed his shoes and he tapped her on the shoulder with the belt. With that Malka climbed onto the table. The Chief of Police handed her a hard pillow that looked like a cylinder, which Malka placed in the table's middle. She positioned herself lying over the pillow, which pushed her bottom up high, fully exposing it. Two court guards positioned Malka's ankles and wrists at the corners of the table and secured them with straps. Malka now lay helpless and completely exposed for a long and harsh punishment with her own police belt.

At first Kim thought the being punished with a belt would be more lenient than being punished with a switch. However, soon she would realize that was not true at all. Unlike the standard 50 strokes for a criminal, there was no set limit on the number of belt swats a former police officer could receive. The belt itself was thick and heavy, far heavier than a normal belt worn by a civilian. Malka would be badly bruised for days after her punishment. On top of everything else, as part of her sentence she would have to wear her belt around her waist when she went out in public, to show the world she was a disgraced former police officer.

The Chief of Police spent a long time studying Malka's spread bottom and exposed vagina, but he did not touch her. Finally he walked around to the side of the table. He doubled Malka's belt and lay it across her bottom. Malka quietly looked back at him, then straight ahead. Finally her former boss lifted the belt from her bottom, lifted his arm up and back, and marked the middle of Malka's bottom with a tremendous CRACK!

Malka flinched, but stayed quiet. That did not surprise Kim. She expected Malka to be extremely stoic about her punishment and that she would resist crying for a very long time. The Chief of Police struck again, laying a second swat immediately on top of the first one. He struck a third time, laying yet another swat in the exact same place.

CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!...Malka's former boss struck her hard a total of 10 times, always in the exact same spot. The swats were so loud that many of the court spectators flinched in sympathy. The police chief paused for a couple of minutes as the solid red band of pain marking the woman's otherwise white bottom darkened and swelled. The man tightened his lips and stuck hard, although this time at a different spot across Malka's backside. Viciously he struck again and again at the spots immediately above and below the vivid red stripe marking the first 10 strokes. Malka began crying. She didn't scream or make any noise, but her body jerked with sobs that she tried to keep quiet.

After the 50th stroke the police chief stopped. Malka's bottom was horribly red and had small purple marks on it. Kim thought the punishment had ended. Hmm...that wasn't so bad. But as that thought passed through Kim's mind, the police chief saluted an older woman, who she recognized as the member of the arraignment committee who had spoken to her in English following her own arrest for marijuana possession. The woman removed her jacket and took the belt. She doubled it, swatted it through the air to test it, and then, full force, delivered a tremendous CRACK to Malka's already badly marked bottom.

Once again, Kim flinched at the ongoing CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK!... CRACK! She felt bad for Malka, but could take satisfaction in knowing that her former nemisis did not face having to put up with this horrible punishment for 18 years. She certainly had incentive to reform, and do so very quickly.

After 25 swats the arraignment committee member was breathing heavily and ready to stop. She saluted another older uniformed officer and passed the belt to him. He struck Malka's dark red bottom viciously another 25 times. By then the errant cop's bottom was deep red and covered with purplish bruises and welts. Kim winced in sympathy. Malka now no longer was Kim's sadistic enemy. She was a fellow criminal who was suffering tremendously. Like any other criminal, she was trying to follow the informal code of honor by trying to stay as quiet as possible as long as possible. Her body continued to jerk with silent sobs as she attempted to hide her face from her former supervisors, who now had become her tormentors.

The older officer passed the belt to yet another section chief. Dukov raised his hand and pointed at Malka's thighs. The man nodded and struck hard at Malka's legs, concentrating on the sensitive area immediate beneath the base of her bottom-cheeks. Malka's resistance began to wear down. Her voice broke with each tremendous CRACK targeting her legs.

Two other sections chiefs punished Malka's thighs before Dukov raised his hand. By now Malka's bottom had darkened and looked ugly. Soon Malka's thighs would darken as well. When Dukov's hand went into the air a second time, Kim thought the punishment finally had ended. Kim was wrong about that.

The police chief snapped his fingers at four of the court guards.

"Turn her over."

The guards unbuckled Malka. One of them jerked the pillow out from under her. The guards then roughly grabbed Malka's wrists and ankles. They flipped her on her back and wrapped the restraints around her wrists and ankles. Kim gasped in horror as yet another section chief took the belt. He placed the belt on the upper part of Malka's thigh, lifted it up, and delivered a frightening CRACK to the previously unmarked skin of the former police officer's muscular right leg. He struck hard five times, then walked around the table to strike her left thigh another five times.

Malka, her face turned upward and her body spread and immobilized on the table, lost what little dignity she had left. She screamed and cried as the belt crashed into her skin over and over. Her body weight and movements pressed on the welts marking her backside, adding to her agony on the table. Her breasts jiggled back and forth as she sobbed, and her shaved vagina was on full display to the court cameras and her former colleagues in the police department.

After 25 hard swats to the fronts of Malka's thighs, there was another salute. Yet another section chief took the belt. The belt struck Malka's thighs yet another 25 times.

Kim gasped and stared at the scene in disbelief, looking at the broken, sobbing woman on the table. Dukov raised his hand a final time and looked at the judge. The judge drew his hand across his chest, indicating the punishment was over. The court guards undid the straps. Malka struggled to get off the table and fell into the arms of her former enemy. Dukov held the sobbing woman until she had recovered enough to finish the formal proceeding.

The judge needed to sign Malka's punishment certificate. Malka had to present herself before the judge, instead of having the person who disciplined her perform the presentation. She struggled to stay upright as she faced away from the judge and presented her backside. Her final duty was to thank her former supervisors for punishing her. She dropped to the floor, struggled to her knees, and one by one kissed the shoes of her tormentors. Malka was facing away from Kim, so Kim had a good look at her bottom. It was so dark that Kim was appalled. No...most definitely being beaten with a police belt was no more lenient than being beaten with a switch.

The police chief touched Malka's shoulder with her belt and released her back into the custody of the Spokesman. He then handed Malka's police belt to Dukov.

The presiding judge had a final word for Malka.

"Malka Chorno you will arrange gainful employment with your Spokesman within 48 hours. You know the rules so I will not need to explain them. On this date, four months from now, you will present yourself to the Central Police Station for your second punishment. Do you understand?

"Yes, your honor. I understand."

With that, Malka Chorno, the brilliant young police officer whose character flaws had so thoroughly ruined her life, reported to the court photographer to have her official post-sentencing identification pictures taken. Once the photos were completed she silently accompanied her Spokesman back across the Central Plaza to the Central Police Station. She climbed on Dukov's recovery table and cried herself to sleep.