Learning that eight-year-old Inna is being tortured and could die at the hands of her stepfather and mother, the school teacher Elena decides to protect the girl. After unsuccessful appeals to the authorities, she realizes that no one but her can save the child from death. Elena makes an escape with Inna and plans to leave the country. But she is hindered by the girl's mother, her cruel and influential stepfather, the police and a chain of fatal circumstances.