‘It’s an endless grief
and a life-time’s haunt.
call me a murderer
if that’s what you want!
the bullets I shot
got him relieved
had you heard his screams
you would have believed
Yes I burst his head
away from his throat!
He was littered in the yard,
with his skin lying charred,
A horrifying sight of
so much blood so much dark!
You feel my pain
and grief so deep
of murdering a friend
so dear to me!
Who do I complain and who to blame
that dark night,
when the God’s were barred!
The Demons Took Charge!’
I murdered a friend
Who was everything to me!
He would present his side of the story to her every single day. The same story, of the night when he was told his friend was in trouble. He ran to his rescue, but, before he could make it, it was too late.
A friend and a lover was lost forever that night!
They were three friends who grew up together, in the same city. When the time came, both the boys expressed their love for her, but she accepted the one who, she believed, was made for her.
However, the new equation didn’t change their old friendship, they still remained inseparable.
After losing the lover, the remaining two friends were married off by their families. They were far too much in pain to oppose or accept the new development.
At least the new marital-alliance will give the two friends a space to grieve together- for the rest of their lives.
And who else could understand their loss better than they did for each other!
There on, they mourned together every night. All their conversations revolved around the night of the horrifying accident. Was it really an accident? Who attacked him? Why? What di did he do to anyone to deserve this? What was his fault? And what did you do to save him? Were you behind all this?
She would hear the same narrative
and her questions would be the same.
‘why did you fire at him?
‘Did YOU set him to flames?’
Tell me once- what was the real aim.
Was it to win me,
Was I the reason
you set up this game!
Let me know the truth
Not the same story I want to hear
time and again!
He would answer every question of hers in the hope to make her believe.
She would break down in his arms and would eventually fall asleep.
They were in pain and their friendship was in deep strain.
But he did not lose hope.
He was a real gem! A player, a lover indeed.
He stayed there for her,
to truly let her feel
that he was her man
and would always stand by her will she need.
His love got her slowly healed.
And very soon she was almost back on her feet.
To feel the new life and a new bliss!!
She took care of herself,
And rejected all her troublesome thoughts.
once again she relied on her dreams
Their home once again was a place of love
harmony and peace!
But one fine day, after he had left for work, someone knocked on the door. She opened the door. It was a lady in some sort of a uniform. She was polite in her introduction as the one from the Human Rights Commission visiting families of the Riot affected areas in the town.
‘I am here in response of the letters you wrote to the police, press, home ministry and the human rights. All they could find at the sight are here in this envelope.’
The lady handed-over a paper pack, it was the dead man’s possessions they found at the scene of the crime. She demanded a few signatures, explained a few papers and then left to do the same for many homes in the city.
As soon as the lady left, she quickly locked the door from inside and read the details written on the envelope. She teared it carefully to retrieve A half burnt driving- licence, a key and a silver ring with a gemstone. Her eyes blurred as she felt the ring in her hands. Her breathing changed to sobbing. She was told that a quartz in silver keeps lovers together forever! Everything was a lie!
She then picked the burnt licence and felt it’s texture with her fingers, as if she felt him through the touch. After inspecting his belongings repeatedly, she wiped her tears and read the words that were not clearly visible on the licence. His family address, had changed since.
But she didn’t know what the keys were for!
Days went as normal, she didn’t tell anyone about the envelope and it’s delivery. After all, from the day of her marriage what has she given her partner other than suspicion, pain and more responsibility? She can’t be this selfish. She can’t bring the same conversations back.
A few days later, it randomly struck. She remembered! The key from the envelope was his Post-Box keys. The post box that both the boys had to buy after finding missing some important job correspondence.
Her instincts were guiding her. Without telling anyone, she left for the post office the same afternoon. After a bit of hassle, she found PO-box 186. She took the key out and tried into the lock. It was a smooth open. The small box was almost full with job offers, rejection letters and marketing mails.
Finally a pale envelope caught her attention. She found what she was looking for- his AUTOPSY REPORT. It was a detailed 10 paged report. There were details of the body at the crime-scene, body organs and their sequential failure, sketches of the body showing bullet marks from different angles and other legal and medical details.
On page 3, it was clearly mentioned, in bold:
The time of death: Between 9 and 10pm
The cause of death: Gunshot on the head
Manner of death: Homicide
The burns time: 90% burns Between 10-12pm
Date of Autopsy: 24-02-2020
She wasn’t shocked to read that he was shot before he was burnt. She always knew or else this post-mortem report wouldn’t have stayed hidden from her. Impassive, she started walking home.
A vicious smile cracked on her lips
She was lied every day
betrayed by her closest friend.
Her life was gamed !
The demon lives in her house,
eats with her and sleeps in her arms!
The demon was her luck
written on her palms!!
Four days later, her body was reported to be found on a train track in another city.
He tracked back to find the autopsy report. In the NOTE section it was clearly written that the burn times could differ by up to 5 hours.
But he knew that section was not read. She was only waiting to get a validation for her suspicion and distrust.
But it wasn’t the autopsy that led to the fatal distrust, it was the riots that sow the seed of disbelief and left a legacy of destruction which will continue to misguide people for decades.
(Delhi Feb 2020)
Pic credit- Auspost.com.au
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