He opened the underground water tank...suddenly a stench left  Babulal dizzy...he caught hold of the nearby guava tree, and managed to maintain his balance . He wanted to shout , but his voice failed him miserably. Then he just slumped on the floor, leaving the iron lid of the tank fall with a big bang ! 
Sarita came running after hearing the loud noise! "What happened Babulal ?"  She asked the still white faced Babulal,  who was as life less as what he had seen!   Sarita came near the tank and shook him hard. Tear were flowing down the eyes of Babulal incessantly. All he could manage was to point out at the tank lid.
 
Sarita still puzzled at his behavior, tried to lift the heavy iron lid but could even budge it..She called her husband.."Ajee sunte ho ! Come here soon ! "  The tall 6-feet framed Gyan ji, came hurried yet calmly. "Can you help me, open this lid!"  Gyan ji , who was as it is tensed since last two days of press hounding him, came and lifted the lid in one go !   Babulal's head again turned toward the water inside.  By now his tears were slower but his sobs had become audibles.. He pointed again inside. " Bhabhi ji" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Gyan ji who was about to leave , stopped.!   Sarita and Gyanji looked at each other and then inside.!   Gyanji left control of the lid !   Sarita who used to think she could handle anything under the sun, fainted !

Gyanji who could feel his legs weakening had no choice but to hold his wife with his trembling hands !   "Babulal, help me" !   Babulal , the loyal orderly, picked up his madam's legs while the IG Mr Gyan Prakash, lifted his wife's torso towards the bedroom from the aangan.   Sarita was unconscious. Babulal looked still a mess. Gyanji still dazed, was wondering who to call.  "Should I call the police ?" , but I am the head of police here ... 

  He just sat there on the mattress bought by the dowry of his one year old wedded daughter -in law
(DIL)!
 
  The DIL was missing since last 48 hours, after a fight and argument that had prompted him to take some cruel measures against his rebel DIL. He was 100 % sure that his police training will help him save his skin anytime ! 
He and his wife had tied the DIL with ropes then covered her with loads of new paper sheets. And using his old walking stick both husband and wife had taken turns to beat the poor DIL who had lost her consciousness long back..   Thinking she was will not move, they untied her and placed her on her bed !
 
The husband ,Manoj was not coming back for another 15 days from his short trip toUK.  

Sarita and Gyanji, ate their dinner, watched all the tv serials one by one, jumping from zee to sony to star...then came and were ready to sleep off, to get ready for another busy day next morning.   In between they would look at each other from the corner of their eyes. Both did not speak a single word.   Sarita, could not control her curiosity. She went to check the damage she had done ...!

Mithu was still unconscious !

Sarita slowly lifted the dupatta around the hands of her DIL. Smiled at the achievement , as there was no mark even as tiny as an ant on the hands. Newspaper did its miraculous job after all! 
 She checked the back too to assure herself and probably to satisfy her sadist mind, that had been itching for last many years! 

  She closed the door, not locking it, as she knew the maid would come by and knock at the DIL's door early morning.   Again with the satisfied look and smile she gives one more look at the hapless girl , and returns to her bed, where Gyan ji was already snoring...

The incessant knocking at the door by the maid, woke first Sarita and then Gyanji.
They frown at the un expected thought and wore their slippers simultaneously and ran towards the noise! 

The maid with a tray of tea was knocking . The tray was by now looking quite shabby with the spilled over hot tea ! Sarita pushed Gauri to her left side and sternly asks her to stop making noise.

"What happened? Why are you creating a ruckus here ?" She questioned Gauri, trying to control her worry. "Hope everything is fine" she said aloud..which was meant not for her DIL but for her own latent worries.

She pushes the door hard , which opens without any resistance ! Angrily she turns back to give her usual dirty look to the maid , who had by now managed to squeeze inside the room !   Inside, Mithu was not on the bed. Sarita knocks the door of the bathroom and tells Gauri, "Keep the tea here and leave" .

Guari moves the bedsheet and places the tray on the bed. She wipes off all the spilled tea with a   tissue paper and leaves the room to start her breakfast routine in the kitchen !    Sarita sits down on the bed, picks up the tea meant for her DIL and takes a sip. Her thoughts are now much sober metamorphing from the criminal to a casual mother in law type !
In her thoughts she doesn't even realize that she has neared the last sip and still there was no sound in the bathroom. She gulps the final sip of tea, keeps the cup back on the tray! Thats when it dawns upon her the scary   thought! She gets up and starts banging the bathroom door with both her hands! 

  Again the maid runs back in ! "What happen Bhabhiji ? Why is Didi not opening the door ? " while uttering these words she opens the latch   which was locked from outside !  The door ajar, no one inside!  Sarita can feel tiny droplets of sweat on her forehead forcing themselves out ! Suddenly her head has become heavy and her jaws clenched tight, she starts   breathing heavily !    

Gauri runs out and starts looking into all other rooms and attached bathrooms one by one! She peeps out of the kitchen window to check for any missing car ! None ! All the cars were still at the parking ! She runs back   and nearly screams at Sarita ! " Didi is not in the house ! "  

By now Gyanji has understood the whole scene. After all he was a gold medalist IPS officer , batch 1968 , the National Police Academy , hyderabad !   His mind starts working on damage control. He calls the local SHO to come home asap !   Then he calls Mithu's parents at   Bangalore ! The maid picks up the call at the other end. Without letting the cat out of the bag, he asks her " Lakshmi, how is everything? " . "All is fine saab ji, how is didi ? ". He mumbles something and disconnects the call.  

  Now he could feel his brain doing a tandav , jumping from one thought to another, not able to reach any logical conclusion ! He makes a call to Manoj, but throws away the cell phone on the sofa out of anger, when the call   could not be connected ! Damn Airtel !  
 
His phone rings again. He rushes to pick up the call assuming its his son !
 " Yes Hello IG Gyan Prakash here !" , he nearly yells on the phone !    

"Goodmorning Sir !  I am calling on behalf of Channel six sir !  We have received a vcd which you might be interested in sir ! May I come there with my team sir ?
Also we would be asking a few questions to your wife along   with you sir. "   "hello sir, are you listening ? ".


Exactly 10 minutes later the whole IG bungalow at greater kailash II ,new delhi,  was swamped with press from different TV channels and print media !    

Gyanji was hoping this was just a mere dream and soon he would be woken up by his wife with a cup of tea !    

"Goodmorning Sir " , said Charu, the reporter from Crimes India of channel six entering the living room steps ! The smile on her face was that of a winner who has just won a million dollar lottery and was about to cash on   the same.

 "Sir the copy of the vcd is sent to the CID for their observation and comment. I would like you to see the vcd yourself before rest of the press is handed a copy as asked by the sender ! " , Charu said trying to   control the eagerness  in her voice!    

"Saritaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  !  Come here ! "  Gyanji was livid and shaking with hundreds of emotions running down his mind !  

Sarita was unable to believe her eyes!  What was playing in front of her eyes was like a nightmare.  

By then the chief of crimes department from CID Mr Ray had also entered the living room and was watching at the TV screen with disbelief !  

<< Sarita enters the room of her son and daughter in law, Manoj and Mithu .  She has a bottle of cough syrup, Corex ! Manoj was suffering from very bad cold and flu since last one week !  She gives him two large spoons of the cough syrup. After a while she is back in to the room with a glass of water and two tablets of DCold.  Manoj pops them and thanks his mom!  She asks him if he had packed his warm clothing ! Manoj nods his head that was  already blasting with terrible pain. He asks his mom to give him something for his headache.
Sarita who had turned into self doctor since Manoj was born, thought for a moment and came back with a paracetamol 500 mg.
By now she had given Manoj a potent dose of vasodialators, central nervous system depressant and blood thinner to his already weak body to take Manoj into hopeless state of  drowsiness !    

Mithu was silently watching the whole scene from the corner of the wardrobe door. Tears flowing down her eyes. ( how well the camera had captured her sadness !).    Wondering silently, did she do anything wrong in making him have two large goblets of wine and a large whiskey on the occasion of their marriage anniversary tonight !  May be that was the cause of the severe headache!  

Manoj asks Mithu to call mom and dad. When they arrive he, bends down to touch their feet and hugs them.
Knowing that the odd flight timing of 2:00 am by Lufthansa Airlines will not be too comfortable for anyone in the chilling  december night in Delhi  to drive a distance of  30 km and back, everyone bid good bye. 

Lights go off and everything is eerily quite !  The camera very vividly captured the hatred in the eyes of Gyanji and Sarita, mercilessly hitting Manoj,   covered under pile of newspaper !  The vcd runs blank for next 5 minutes or so which seemed more than hours...    >>>>>>


Babulal,  was looking at his Saab and Bhabhi ji with disbelief and shame !

Why , what, why  was the only question that everyone was asking but no one was ready to break the ice ! 

Sarita and Gyanji slumped on the sofa!  

Babulal, calls to the CID c hief and points to the underground water tank, where Manoj's body had been floating upside down !    

TV channels and print media have a ball of a time replaying the vcd on and on causing an avalanche of emotional stirring within the country !  


Gyanji and Sarita were sent to NIMHANS at Bengaluru for their mental analysis before sending to the jails separately, Gyan ji to the Naini central jail and Sarita to the Tihar jail  for life !  

The judge sentenced them to 125 years of life to suffer and bear the pain of loss of their son alone with inmates who were also waiting to see what kind of parents can kill their only son with such a master plan and for a   mere insurance of Rs five crore ! 

She reads the last line of the verdict being displayed on the large lcd screen of the Avon Cruise , thinking why did Manoj cheat on her, when she had loved him with all her heart, fought with her parents to spend her life   with the only man she trusted in this world !
Close