Nani, who does not understand any of this, feels protective towards Yamuna who is gradually becoming ostracized by the villagers. Ganesha, the other resident pupil in Udupa's school is taken away by his father. Driven to despair by the wagging tongues in the village, Yamuna tries to commit suicide by putting her arm into a snake's hole. But Nani, helped by an untouchable labourer, braves the dark forest at night and drags her away in time. Nani goes with Yamuna to an untouchable's home, where his wife prepares for an abortion.
Drunken villagers gather outside, dancing the night away to the beat of drums.
Nani is terrified by the noise of merriment merging with Yamuna's cries of agony. In the darkness of the night, the school teacher quietly leaves the village. The Brahmins who are looking for the fugitives, find Nani and Yamuna in the forest. Nani is wrenched away from the girl who is in pain and now has no hope for redemption. The self-righteous rage of the Brahmin community finds expression in Udupa's performing the ritual of ghatasraddha where, as part of the funeral rites for his living daughter, an earthen pot, the symbol of fertility, is broken in a final negation of life.