No. 34

Prologue

August 2013
         Click* Click*
     "From this angle too."
Click* Click*
      With a piece of cloth on his mouth, the head constable questioned.
      "Astaghfirulallah! This is horrible. Those blood thirsty animals will rot in hell. Did you manage to take pictures from all angles?"
     "Ji sahab! I tried my best to take it from all angles." The photographer said as the forensics team arrived.
      The four policemen stood beneath the building.
     "Bhai what even happened over here?"
"Two girls were killed in apartment no. 34. The neighbors made a call. They had heard screams from the apartment about two hours ago." The crime scene officer said as he smoked his fourth cigarette of the day.
      "The girls were stripped naked."
"Don't even get me started on what condition their body was in." The other two crime scene officers said.
      The four policemen stood in silence as they all realized that this case was going to be a long one.
      "Why didn't you make the call immediately?"
"We were scared. There was so much screaming. We thought they were going to come for us if they realized someone was on the floor. But we made the call as soon as we recovered." The 57 year old man said as his 14 year old stood in complete shock beside him.
     "What happened to him?" The police officer asked while pointing to his son.
     "Oh! He is just in shock just like the rest of us. He actually saw some blood while you evacuated us from the floor." He said and the with a nod, the police officer went to record statements of other residents.
     "Sir, the situation is bad." The SHO said on his phone.
      "Try your best to keep this away from the media. We already have too many rape and harassment cases on our hands. This case will mean, a complete end to all our careers. The Fatima Jamal is still on a dead end. The Chief Minister will end me if we don't solve that case. Right now, collect all evidence from the crime scene and take all statements. Make sure this doesn't appears on any kind of media platform, Sohail."
     "Yes sir, I will try my best." And with that the CCPO hung up.
      "Sir, it's still midnight. We have collected everything. The bodies have been sent for post mortem. Don't you think you should address the witnesses and residents?" The head constable asked.
     "Faisal, if this goes out we all will be on the streets with our families. It's time you prove yourself and make sure this is settled over here." The SHO said and left the crime scene.
     The head constable looked at his disappearing car and sighed in frustration.
     "Aye Jameel, come here. Gather everyone around."
     "We have collected all evidences and the crime scene has been cleaned. We are grateful for your cooperation and the fact that you gave statements immediately. Now, whatever happens is going to be the problem of police. Not yours. For justice to be served, we need you all to stay silent. Completely silent. If this goes out, you will become a hindrance in the process and you shall face the consequences of it too. So, I hope you don't act foolishly. You all will now live like this incident never happened. At least till the time we tell you that it's okay to step in media. This incident will never be discussed from this night and onwards." The head constable said and made sure to glare at every single innocent soul. He was genuinely thankful to them for their cooperation but he didn't have a choice.
      The poor and scared residents of Al-Hassan Apartments nodded in agreement. And silently took an oath in their hearts. An oath of forgetting this incident for their own good.
     With that, 37 police mobiles left the crime scene. But 57 minds were left behind. 57 brains who vividly remembered the incident and will remember it for the rest of their life. 57 innocent people who will be tortured by the memory of this incident for the rest of their life. 57 ruined people were left behind.