Chapter 3 Crime & Beyond

Madhuri

@Viswasruti

                                                                       Crime & Beyond

On that fateful morning, Resham Singh went upstairs calling Sagarika to come down to meet his drunken friends.

He entered into that room only to have a shock of his life!

The room was marked with blood stains, the red bridal sari was soaked in blood and strewn all over the floor.

RS  called for watchman at the top of his voice. He came running and scared seeing the gory scene there.

RS inquired him, whether somebody else is also there in the house. For that, the watchman replied in the negative!

But he was in great tension, he is not in a position to reveal the truth, shivering with fear.

RS  searched for her inside the house and in the near vicinity, but could not find her, decided to leave that place in a hurry. 

But they were intercepted by police, surrounded by them, questioned, later found the dead body of Sagarika in the boot.

Police started their investigation. The officer on duty proceeded to investigate the facts and circumstances of the crime. Suddenly police realized that the body was disappeared into thin air. They were stunned, started searching for it, but could not find it.

Police suspected that one of RS's friend must be escaped with the body, to evade the criminal case by eliminating the evidence and proof.

RS and his friends convicted for the murder of Saagarika under IPC  Section 302,[Murder] 307 [Attempt of murder ] 326 [ causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons  Knife and Gun ] and  120-B [criminal conspiracy ].

The murder which shaken the police and judiciary establishments in the town, because of the involvement of an MLA's son and the  SP's murder.

Police searched and collected some pieces of evidence in the place of crime, ie, in the farmhouse and its surroundings.

 They recorded the watchman's statement. From him, they extracted important information. They started working in that direction.

After much public uproar, the case was brought to a fast track court.

The case attracted the media's attention. The media started projecting it as a sensational case, in which a young girl who married recently, eloped with an  MLA's rangila son, but was murdered in mysterious circumstances.

Later they found her fingerprints in the site of the murdered SP, which was committed in the previous night.

Day by day the case becomes complicated.

Police were under pressure, they are unable to produce the dead body of Sagarika, but they are claiming that they have seen it in the suspect's car trunk.

After Public  prosecutor Mrs. Sneha's  opening address,-the Defense Lawyer rose to  present his points." A criminal case registered against my client  Mr. RS, but the police failed to produce the dead body! No proper  Panchnama report is there, the investigation was done in a haphazard way, no proper proof, blood stains and charred remains of the sari are found but not sure to prove that those belong to the dead person Saagarika, no forensic report. My sincere appeal to the court is, please acquit my client from all criminal charges. He is innocent "--

Mishra family requested the public prosecutor,  Mrs. Sneha, who is an eminent lawyer to prove that Saagz is not a murderer of SP, but she herself was a victim of harassment and deceit, implicated her in that murder and later murdered her in his farmhouse by RS who has many criminal charges against him pending since many years.

She tried to prove that there are many discrepancies in this case and all the shreds of evidence and investigation reports are pointing towards Resham Singh. He must have killed  Saagz because she knows too much about his crimes. She continued her lecture in the court hall....

" The suspected criminal belongs to a powerful ruling party  MLA!  That's why police are trying to hide the facts to save him. Your Honor, please do justice to my deceased client, she was an innocent housewife with many beautiful dreams, a lovely wife of this young lad. They are living happily in their own lovely world, but RS eyed for her and tried to own her by power, but she did not yield to his advances, in a fit of anger he killed her and tried to eliminate evidence, by burning the sari, wiping the bloodstains and then ultimately vanished her body. It is a well planned cold-blooded murder.---

Please Sir, I request the higher authority to punish him under section 302, by pronouncing a death sentence. Anyway, in this country, the legal system will move in such a snail pace, that the final verdict will be handed to him after many decades. But, Your Honor ....please remember, this man murdered her dreams, her self-respect and finally made her lifeless. We, the women, are  waiting to get justice at least now after all these losses of so many lives since decades " !-- With tears in her eyes, she sat down.

Every day,  MLA is attending the court and hearing the arguments and counter-arguments with rapt attention. He appointed a famous criminal lawyer to defend his son.

He has taken all the care by keeping the watchman with him in his official bungalow because he is the prime witness and his and his son's fate depends on his statement.

By using his political power, he is trying his best to save his son and close the case as early as possible.

On that day, when the Judge was about to announce his verdict, a lady police officer entered into the courtroom and submitted some papers to the Judge.

The judge nodded his head and said to the lady police officer [LPO] you can produce the prime witness.

There ....she stood like a flaring Sun!  Sagarika entered into the courtroom with a determined, walking gracefully into the witness box.

Everybody shook their head in disbelief. A visible change in MLA and his son's faces. Amidst disbelief and disturbance Judge asked Saagarika to present her version of the incident.

Here is the  Victims Version ---

'RS brought me to the farmhouse and asked me to wear the red sari and come down to surrender myself to douse his lust. I went up,   stood there dejected, wanted to kill him, or at least kill myself, why I have to surrender to this devil? Is there any way to escape from here, why everything is going against me, not asking Bunty for help. Is it a mistake? 

 I was standing there in that confused state, suddenly realized somebody is watching me. Saw a man in his 50s, stand there with questioning glares. At that moment  I felt very happy for this God sent help. But later  I realized that he is a devil in disguise.

Who are you? Why are you here this early morning time? Did Watchman send you for me?

I explained to him about the malicious intention of RS and pleaded him to save me.

From the first floor corridor, he has seen his son sitting in the hall and having drinks with his friends, and realized that he is in great danger. Till now he managed well to hide his immoral deeds from his wife and son. He realized the danger.

Before he said anything, a lady came from his bedroom dressed clumsily and misunderstood the situation and started arguing animatedly with him.

"How dare you called another girl here, I won't spare her .--Suddenly she started shouting at me on top of her voice, he feared that his son will realize his murky activities, in that fear, to silence her, he shut her mouth but she tried to continue, he lost his cool, in that outrage, he stabbed her many times with a knife, kept there with some apples. Blood splashed all over that place  including on  me and the red sari

 Within seconds he realized what he did and started working on hiding the body, for that he opened his bedroom's balcony door, wrapped the body in a bedsheet and lifted it, went down from the old staircase with the help of watchman, where his car was parked in the backyard.

Then I heard the car zoomed away from there, with that dead body.

I was numb but suddenly realized that there is a way to escape. I ran down. But meanwhile, RS noticed my absence and started searching for me.

In a hurry, I ran towards the front yard and hide in  RS car's boot.

One of his friends started the car, kept it ready to escape from the crime spot. They were not aware of my presence in the back of the car.

After a few minutes, RS and his friends started from there with cursing their fate.

Midway, police stopped the car and opened the boot, with fear and shock, I turned stiff and unknowingly closed my eyes. Someone shouted, " here is the dead body ". The police officers started questioning  RS and his friends. A big crowd gathered there.

Everyone's attention was diverted towards police and RS, his shouting and their orders, etc.

A car stopped near this car, a  lady got down to ask the police, to enquire what happened there.

Police told her the criminal incident. With great sympathy she looked at me and told them, please investigate properly, the culprit should not escape, a young girl's pride and dignity are at stake.

The constable stands near the car who was busy chewing  Gutka with closed eyes, he started enjoying it. That blinking second served me as a golden opportunity to escape. I entered into the car of this Madam Public Prosecutor who talked to the police. After a few seconds, she came back and sped away from there. 

She heard my sobs and convulsive gasps from behind, surprised, stopped the car aside and turned back to question me, why I am sitting there and crying?

I told her everything, including RS's cruel plot to implicate me in the murder of SP.

She said after listening to my heart-wrenching story," I will try my best to get you justice ."

She took me to her house, and I was treated by her daughter DR. Priya for my injuries, and she kept me there for 3 days because the police will visit both of my houses for inquiry.

Later, she sent me to my father's house and advised me to hide there.

Murdered SP was her close friend, she heard that news from the news channel and was on her way to attend to console the deceased SP's family on that fateful day. She determined to take up this case.

The main reason behind my hiding is, a powerful ruling party's MLA and his son who involved in many crimes are involved here. So she wanted to expose the MLA and his son in the full public glare, to block all the ways to these criminals to escape." Sagarika completed her story.

 With her exceptional oratory skills, the Defence Lawyer Mrs. Sneha won the case.

The sinful father and his lecherous son were convicted and confined to jail.

The Public Prosecutor Mrs. Sneha heave a sigh of relief, for saving a young girl from such a grave and dangerous situation.

Sagarika went to her DL and hugged her.  The entire Mishra family expressed their gratitude to her for dealing with the case with her exceptional oratory skills, with great efficiency.

"Sagarika, my only advice to you is, always be brave in adverse situations like this, believe me, dear, victory will be yours! " With a pat on her back, she blessed her.

Moonlight is spreading all over Benares city. Bunty and Sagarika are in their bedroom. She sensed the flood of memories in their minds, and the spread of lovely thoughts in their bodies.

Bunty whispered into her ear, leave those past sufferings behind  Saagz, let the time pass silently, let us allow our hearts speak to each other while they are so near, the softest laugh on your glowing face is alluring me to own you! Am I witnessing a miracle now, my love is so near? again in my hands?!  Let me do the honors, just let me put my head on your feet once to acknowledge your bravery, just let me touch your heart now, just let me kiss you on your lips for long, just let me lost myself in you forever.

The night was so beautiful for them to share many feelings.  

Edited by Snehamadhuri - 5 years ago