April 03rd 2013 01:15 Hrs:

Sneha comes running inside. She sees Tarun outside the ICU.

“Sneha. Amrutha… Amrutha…”

“Tarun. Wait. Nothing will happen. I came. I am here. You wait here. Nothing will happen.”

“Sneha, she is the only one left for me. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Tarun. Calm down. Nothing will happen to Amrutha. She will be alright. I am there Tarun. you just wait outside.”

“Go, go, go Sneha. I want her back.”

01:19 Hrs:

Ranjith and Arpit try to control Tarun. But, Tarun was in so much pain. He is not listening to anyone.

“Tarun, Tarun.” – Arpit

“Yes sir.”

“Why is your wife out there following you?”

“I don’t know sir. I am still not understanding why she is out there at that midnight following me.”

“I guess I know a little on that.” – Ranjith

“What is that sir?”

“Yesterday, after the post lunch meeting was over, we both were discussing about the evidence in the evidence room. She asked me some questions about the device.”

April 02nd 2013 18:15 Hrs:

“Sir, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes Amrutha.”

“Tell me something about these devices. I mean, where and all they will be available in our country and who do you think are well trained on these?”

“Amrutha. These are highly tactical devices and are custom made for our country. Only 3 batches were trained on these highly tactical gear in INDIA. And all these three batches belong to Mumbai. As Mumbai is the main target of terrorists, they designed these kind of tactical gear and trained every batch in Mumbai before the 26/11 attacks. After the 26/11 attacks, a special Anti Terrorist team was formed and then only those people were trained in using these gear.”

“Okay sir. Can I get the details of the people who are trained?”

“Ya sure.”

After a while, I projected the evidence photos in the HD iView projector, she saw something in that and closely examined it for few minutes. Then, I don’t know what happened. She immediately started from there saying me that she will meet later. I guess she found out something that gave a clue to her or may be that gave a hint to her that you are somehow related to that case.

April 03rd 2013 01:29 Hrs:

“Oh Damn. I guess she saw the device which I have with me. She never touches my gear and so I dint think of hiding it much. And she may have also pulled out all my travel records. Amrutha… Amrutha… All these years, I was taking care at each step so that you will not get a doubt on me. But then finally I was not able to hide things much longer from you.”

“Tarun. So, that is the reason you requested me to somehow get her out of this case?” – Arpit.

“Yes sir. I tried all means in making her stop working on this case. But, none of them worked out. And so as a final request, I wanted to try it from your side so that she won’t dig much deeper in this case and will be out of this case. But now it’s all over sir. She got to know everything about me and about these planned accidents on those criminals.”

02:37 Hrs:

Tarun is standing out at ICU waiting to hear from Sneha regarding Amrutha. After an hour, Sneha came out of the ICU towards Tarun.

“Tarun…”

“Sneha.. Sneha.. How is she now? Is she fine? Can I see her?”

“Tarun. Listen.”

“Tell Sneha. She is alright? Nothing will happen to her right?”

“Tarun. You got to hear this. Don’t be panic. Nothing will happen to her. Everything will be alright. Just let me tell you what happened.”

“Tell Sneha. What happened to her?”

“She had a heavy injury on the bottom right part of the skull. We need to operate her as soon as possible. I am making arrangements for that. I called our senior doctor who is a specialist in these kinds of surgeries.”

“Sneha. No. No. No. No. No. Don’t talk like this. Nothing will happen to her.”

“Tarun. Tarun. You have to be strong. We need to do the surgery as quick as possible.”

“She will be fine after that right? She will be back normal right?”

Sneha remained silent, she has now words to answer to Tarun’s questions.

“Sneha, answer me. She will be alright after the surgery right?”

“I.. I can’t say that.”

“What? What are you talking Sneha? Tell me clearly.”

“I can’t say that she will be normal after the surgery. This surgery we are doing is at a very high risk. If we don’t do surgery, she will die within 4 hours. It’s a heavy injury. The only option we have is to take risk and do the surgery.”

“Sneha. What are you talking? This is Amrutha you are talking about. Nothing will happen to her.”

“Tarun. I know. I understand. I am also in the same pain as you are in now. But then there are very little chances of her survival even if we do surgery. But, we have to take that risk and do the surgery as there are chances that she may survive after the surgery.”

“Okay. Okay. I am sorry. I am sorry Sneha. Make the arrangements.”

“Ya Tarun, we are already on our way. In the next one hour, we will start the surgery.”

“Can I see her now? Can I talk to her now?”

“Ya Tarun. You can. But don’t tell her anything about the surgery and its complexity.”

“Okay Sneha.”

“Tarun… What are you thinking?”

“Nothing Sneha. You make the arrangements. I will go and sit with Amrutha.”

03:11 Hrs:

Tarun slowly walked into the ICU room where Amrutha is undergoing treatment. He has no strength to face Amrutha in that kind of situation and so stepped out from the room. He is in so much pain and anger on himself. He decides to call Aravind.

“Hello Tarun.”

“Aravind.”

“Ya Tarun. Tell me. What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Aravind… Amrutha…”

“What? What happened to her again?”

“She met with an accident.”

“What? How did it happen Tarun?”

“She came to know that I was the one behind all the accidents that are planned against the prisoners.”

“What Tarun? What are you talking? How did she know?”

“She got the evidence from the Delhi case. She followed me when I went to meet my senior office. There, when we were explaining to him, she heard it and tried to run away from me and a car hit her.”

“Oh.. No…”

“Aravind. She has to undergo surgery now in another few hours. Sneha is treating her. I am all confused. I am not able to face her.”

“Tarun. She has to be strong mentally for this. If she is depressed, then nothing will work.”

“I can’t take this every time Aravind. This is the third time I am in this kind of situation watching her battling with life. Aravind. How many years this continues? Every time she has to suffer like this? There is no other way for this? Do something Aravind?”

“Tarun. Listen. There is a way. But, it will be so tough. And if it works, then she will be completely alright and normal.”

“What is that Aravind?”

“She has to be mentally strong to accept everything and anything that’s comes to her in LIFE.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“You have to do it.”

‘Me? What are you talking Aravind?”

“You have to make her strong mentally. You have to give her that strength and you have to make her bold enough to accept all the good and bad in life.”

“I am not understanding Aravind. How is that possible?”

“Talk to her. Tell her everything clearly. Talk to her and explain all the things that happened to her are part of life and she has to accept them to move ahead.”

“Aravind. I don’t think I can do this.”

“You have to do this Tarun. I tried counseling her in all ways. But there is no much result. You are the one she trusts more and you are the one she listens more. And so you have to do it. Go, explain her everything. Bring her back to normal.”

“No. No. No Aravind. I can’t do it.”

“You have to be strong. You have to do it. If you want your Amrutha to be back to you, then this is the only way Tarun.”

“I want her back Aravind. I want her normal. And for that, yes I am ready to do this. I will right now go and talk to her and will explain her truth.”

03:29 Hrs:

Sneha listens to Tarun’s words while he is talking with Aravind. She comes running to Tarun when he tells Aravind that he will go and talk to Amrutha and will tell her the truth.

“Tarun. What are you doing? She is in a very critical situation now. You cannot do this now. You cannot tell her the truth now.”

“Tarun. Is that Sneha?”

“Yes Aravind.”

“Give the phone to her, I will talk to her.”

Aravind explains the whole situation to Sneha. He convinces her that this is the only way they can make Amrutha to live a normal life. In the initial stage of conversation, Sneha completely denies to what Aravind is proposing. But then, later she understands the lines of Aravind.

“Tarun. As a doctor, I cannot let you do this. But as Aravind is saying, and also as I too want Amrutha to be back normal, I am allowing you to speak with her and say the truth that you are hiding from 2 years. Go Tarun. Go. Get your Amrutha back.”

“Sneha. If something happens to Amrutha, I can’t live with the fact that I have hidden many things from her.”

“Tarun. Nothing will happen to Amrutha.”

04:03 Hrs:

Tarun now steps into the room and slowly reaches towards Amrutha. Amrutha slowly opens her eyes. Tarun sees tears rolling out from Amrutha’s eyes.

“Amrutha. I know you are shocked on knowing that I was the one behind all those accidents. Let me explain you why I had to do it in that way.”

“Tarun. What if they catch you? What happens to me? How can I be without you?”

“Amrutha. Nothing will happen to me. It’s unofficially approved by superiors. Don’t worry Amrutha.”

“How can you say that Tarun? How can I be without worrying? I cannot imagine my life without you Tarun.”

“Amrutha. Listen. I want to tell you something else. I want you to know the truth which is hidden in me from 2 years and which is following me like a shadow every second. I can’t hide this any more. Today I want to tell you the whole truth what happened to our baby.”

“Our baby? What are you talking Tarun?”

“Listen Amrutha. Be patience. You have to be strong. You have to be bold and listen to what I will be telling you now.”

“Tarun. Don’t confuse me. Tell what happened?”

“I will tell you. But before that you have to promise me one thing.”

“What is that Tarun?”

“You have to promise me that you will not leave me.”

“What? What are you talking Tarun? How can I be without you? Why will I leave you?”

“Then listen Amrutha. Make yourself strong.”

“Tell Tarun.”

“Our baby is not dead because you fell down. She is dead because of you.”

“What? What are you talking Tarun? Why will I kill our baby?”

“Amrutha. On that day, you had some bad dream and then when you woke up, I was not there. You accidently saw Rachana’s pics in my file, and then you ran into shock. During those times, you do things out of control. That moment, you are not in control of yourself. You drank a combination of chemical drugs all at once which acted like a poison and killed our baby.”

“Nooooooooooooo. Noooo. Nooo”

Amrutha is totally out of control. She is crying out loud. She is trying to move up from the bed. Tarun holds her hands and controls her.

“Amrutha. Listen. I told you that you have to be bold and strong to listen to what I say.”

“I killed our own baby Tarun. I know how much you like children.”

“Amrutha, listen completely. It’s not your fault. Aravind conducted some psychological session on you for about a week and the findings shocked both of us.”

December 15th 2010 09:11 Hrs:

(The time where Amrutha’s baby is dead and she was hospitalized)

After couple of days of sessions, one day Aravind called me in the early morning and asked me to come to his clinic.

“Aravind. Why did you call me? Is there anything so urgent?”

“Tarun. You want to know why Amrutha tried to kill her baby. The findings from the sessions with Amrutha are really shocking. ”

“What is that Aravind?”

“I will play you the tape where Amrutha told why she got the thought to kill her baby.”

Aravind plays the video tape which he recorded while he was having a psychological session with Amrutha.

December 14th 2010 09:11 Hrs:

“Amrutha… I will ask you some set of questions and you have to answer me in detail.”

“Ask.”

“What happened on that day when you saw Rachana’s pic in the file?”

“On that day, I had a dream that I was blessed with a baby girl. We named her as Swapna. Me and Tarun used to take good care of her. We were living a very happy life. Me, Tarun and our Swapna. We three are the world to each other. Swapna has grown bigger and she was joined at hostel for her higher studies after the schooling as Tarun and I get lot of transfer every now and then. Every weekend me and Tarun drives to her hostel and will pick her up. On that day, Tarun was busy and so I had to drive alone to pick her up.

I was driving on the highway to reach her. On the way, I saw a girl lying on the road. I pulled over my car and got down. From the distance, I could see her that she is bleeding heavily. I walked towards her. She is lying n*k*d on the road. I immediately covered her and called for ambulance immediately. They reached there in 10 minutes and were carrying her on stretcher. I got back into my car. While I was about to start my car, I saw her while they were about to close the door, I felt like it was our daughter Swapna. I was shocked. But then I tried to console myself that it was no Swapna. I immediately called the hostel people. They said that somebody came to pick her up saying that her father sent them. I drove to the hospital immediately. I enquired the room no and went running there. I saw her through the ICU window. It was our Swapna. I cried a lot and was not able to control myself. A doctor came running towards me. I asked her about Swapna’s condition. Doctor said it is a r*p* case and at least a group of 5 were involved. She is suffering from so much of pain. They hurt her so bad. They hit her very badly with iron rods everywhere and as a result, she is bleeding heavily. Doctor said they were not able to stop the bleeding. After few seconds, a nurse came running and said that the girl was dead. I ran into shock and fainted. Then suddenly when I opened my eyes, no one was there next to me. Then I figured out that it was a dream. I searched for Tarun. I was in so much fear and pain. Then at the moment, I saw Rachana’ s pic. I was not able to control myself. So many thoughts were running in my mind.

“Is this the way girls/woman is being respected in our country. While I was in Women Welfare department, I head lot of cases like this. I got afraid. What If I really had a baby girl and when she is grown up, she too faces a situation like this? What will I do? I don’t have confidence in this country and also I myself questioned whether I can really protect her till the end? What will I do if she has to face a horrible death like this? All the years of love the parents and everyone have on them should end this way? After 18 to 20 years of complete care and love with which they are grown up, and if one day some idiots like those come and do this to them then how can they live the rest of their life? Being born like a girl is a big sin? They don’t have right to live a normal life? Where ever they go they live in fear and pain. Always questions and fears in their mind. Do they have no rights to live a peaceful life like the boys? With all these thoughts and confusion in my mind, I was not knowing what to do and so I decided to kill her even before she steps into this cruel world because if she is a girl then I can’t give her a horrible death like this and if it’s a boy, I can’t make a mistake of giving one more idiot to this world. The world is filled with enough idiots to kill each girl hundred times. All the girls are already psychologically dead in their mind with the fact that they are girls. There is no security and safety for women. And if at all the police catch them, they put and feed them in jails or give bails which are like permissions for them to go and commit many more such crimes. I cannot go and change the entire world. And at the same time, I cannot take a risk of bringing my child into this corrupted, unsecure and unsafe world of criminals.”

December 15th 2010 11:25 Hrs:

After seeing the video, Tarun has tears in his eyes. He has no words to speak.

“Aravind. Stop. Stop that video.”

Aravind immediately stops playing that video.

“Aravind. It’s like questions being posted to me by Amrutha. I can’t see it anymore. This is more like she is trying to point at me saying that you cannot take care of child and so I stopped her from coming into this world.”

“Tarun. Even I felt the same anger and pain as you are feeling now. And this is not the only case. There are so many such cases in INDIA where women are dead psychologically than physically. They are afraid to step out of their houses. And if this continues, I guess we will go back to the age where women are stick to houses. And all our development, progress, equality whatever we call is useless. There is no world without woman and what is happening now is these criminals are trying to create a world where there will be no women. And there is nothing wrong if mother like Amrutha kill their Swapna’s even before they come into this world.”

“Yes Aravind. I am in this department but my hands are tied up. Not able to take any step without the orders. Now I feel ashamed to put on this uniform and go out to duty. I was not able to protect people around me. I feel responsible for things like Rachana’s death and now the death of my baby.”

“Tarun. There should be some way to stop this. We cannot let this continue. And if this continues, then there will be only mortuaries and not people.”

“You are right Aravind. I have to figure out some way to stop this.”

04:29 Hrs:

“After that, I went to New Delhi and spoke about this to Arpit. I explained about the operation and how I am going to execute. He initially rejected my proposal as it is completely out of system and rules. But then when I explained him in detail about the impact these kinds of situations are creating in the mind of women and the people in the country, he agreed to my operation and sanctioned it unofficially. I never looked back from then. I created plots and executed each of them carefully. As I am part of department, I know each and every nuke of this department and how it functions and so I dint feel much difficult in doing this operation. Aravind was the first person to know about this operation. He used to provide me information on the various cases he and his friends use to handle related to harassment on women.”

Amrutha remained silent. She was just looking at Tarun.

“Amrutha. Speak Amrutha. Did I do anything wrong? Killing these people is a crime? I don’t want any more Swapna’s and Rachana’s to be killed by those idiots. They should not even get a thought of touching women. And that day, I proudly will say that my country is safe and that day every girl/woman can walk with their heads high on the road. ”

“No Tarun. You are right. You did the right thing. All I am afraid is about you Tarun.”

While this talks were happening between Amrutha and Tarun, Ranjith and Arpit steps into the ICU room.

“Amrutha beti. You are like my daughter. Nothing will happen to Tarun. You have my word.”

After few minutes, Sneha comes inside. She signs to Tarun that it’s time for the surgery to start.

“Amrutha… Are you fine?”

05:11 Hrs:

“Amrutha. There is some minor surgery to be done. Sneha has made all arrangements. It will be done in just 1 hour.”

“No Tarun. I don’t want to leave you. Be with me.”

“I am always with you Amrutha. It will all be fine in one hour.”

Amrutha will be taken inside the operation theatre by the nurse.

“Sneha. Everything will be fine right?”

“Don’t worry Tarun. Hope for the best. Everything will be fine. Our Amrutha will be back smiling.”

Tarun waits outside the operation theatre. He is in lot of tension and keeps looking at the door.

06:18 Hrs:

When Tarun saw Sneha coming out, he runs towards her.

“Sneha.. How is she?”

Sneha smiles and says to Tarun that operation is success and everything is fine. Tarun hugs Sneha so tight and tears start rolling from his eyes.

“Thank you so much. Thank you so much Sneha.”

Tarun walks into the room.

“Tarun. I was not hoping that I will see you again while I was being taken to the operation theatre.”

“Amrutha. Stop talking like that. You can never go leaving me.”

“Tarun. I want you to promise me one thing.”

“What is that Amrutha?”

“You should stop all these and take me somewhere far from this world.”

“Amrutha…”

“Tarun. Please promise me. I can’t live without you. I want you to be with me forever.”

(After 1 year.)

London, England

“Tarun.. Tarun..” – Amrutha walks out of her room and starts searching for Tarun.

“Tarun. Where are you? Tarun.” – she finds him sitting in the lawn.

“Oh dear. You are here. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing dear. Come, sit.”

Amrutha sits next to Tarun and hugs him by lying down on his shoulder.

“A new case has been reported last week that 4 prisoners were killed in an accident while they wer being moved to court for the hearing of the case.” – Indian Edition – The Daily Newspaper.

***Shadow of Truth***

#NoEnd