Tara Sen lives in a small town in India with her parents, a younger brother, sister, and an elder brother who lives in Calcutta. She is friendly with Ghanshyam, affectionately called "Ghana", and often spends time with him near the river bank. When her brother returns home he brings along a friend named Bijesh, who takes a liking to Tara and molests her. He is asked to leave the very next day, but the news spreads like wildfire, resulting in her parents to decide to get her married immediately, in vain though as no one wants to come forward to marry her. During the Devi Pooja ceremonies, people crowd around the Sen household and spread vicious rumors about Tara, Ghana does not take kindly to this, a fight ensues, and a man is killed. The police are summoned, Ghana is arrested and held in prison. Sen attempts to reason with the local Police Inspector Badal Gupta, known for womanizing and being an alcoholic, who agrees to withdraw all charges provided Tara marries him.