Trampled

Reformation

One month later, Mahendra stood to one corner of the courtroom while fondly touching the Rakhi still clasping his wrist, like as though Payal was there, standing beside him with her hand clasped tightly around his wrist, like she always had whenever she was nervous. 

And today the trepidation in his heart was evident in the way he bit into the nail of his thumb and jiggled his legs restlessly. 

It was the hearing of an iconic case after all. 

State of Maharashtra v/s SJS Medical College, Vikram Sanyal, Raima Malhotra, Frederick Rodrigeuz, Akshay Mehta.

Just less than six months ago he had been denied justice in this very courtroom. Yet here he stood today, wearing a smirk on his face, the convicts finally having been made to pay for their crimes with their lives. 

He had handed copies of the video he had found in Vikram's bag pack under a anonymous senders name to every channel in the country. 

The entire nation had watched the horrifying events of that day. Of how six students had held two juniors students captive. Of how they had stripped them of their clothes and their dignity. Of how they had sworn and called them names and kicked them and made them feel ashamed of themselves . Of how they had compelled two brilliant students to take their lives and wreck themselves forever. 

Akshay was convicted for the cold blooded murder of Freddie. He had partially lost his sanity but it was his father who had completely lost his mind. 

"He is the murderer." Sanyal suddenly stood up ,pointed at Mahendra and yelled with scorn. "He killed my son. He killed Raima and framed Akshay into murdering Freddie."

All eyes in the courtroom turned towards Mahendra who glanced at everyone with an innocent frown. 

"Your honor Mr Sanyal is wasting the courts time."

"Who are you? And why are you here?" the Judge asked. 

"I am Mahendra Bhatnagar, your honor, Payal Bhatnagar's older brother. And I am here to witness the iconic moment when justice will finally be served against those who compelled my sister to take her life. I am here on this momentous occasion wanting assurance from our great legal system, that what happened with my sister does not repeat with any other innocent student. I want to go to bed tonight, finally at peace that my sister's sacrifice did not go in vain." 

Lifting his hate filled eyes towards Sanyal, he hissed in hate." I am here for justice your honor and I know today I shall not return disappointed. "

"He killed my son. Arrest him." 

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Mahendra said with a chuckle. 

"Mr Sanyal," the Judge finally raised his voice."your son was killed by a pack of wild dogs in the heart of the Chandrapur forest reserve. The reserve is a haven for wild Dhole dogs, how is there any connection with Mr Bhatnagar here? Get to grips with yourself.  As of Raima, she threw herself from her balcony and killed herself while Akshay shot Freddie in the heart. Hence therefore stop wasting this court's precious time and sit down."

Sanyal glared at Mahendra with hate. But his son had been killed by wild dogs. His vehicle had been found along with his body on the same day Payal had died a year ago. Perhaps Mahendra was right, Payal didn't forgive easily, he had warned, was she responsible for the deaths. He felt a shiver down his spine. His wife wept beside him uncontrollably. They had lost their only son and now he would never return no matter how hard they tried. 

___

Two months later, everyone gathered under the canopy of the large mango tree where Mahendra and Payal had spent their evenings together. But today her smiling frame hung from the bark while her brother continued adding the last minute touches.

Naseem was there along with her mother. Ratnakar had come with his wife. Mahendra's parents too were busy arranging the food on the table. Finally the warden and her son too joined them. 

 It was a little after dusk, the sun has disappeared behind the hills framing the edge of the fields at the distance. Fairy lights and rustic lamps lit the area under the tree adding an ethereal glow to the divine blissful moment. 

"Thank you all for coming." Mahendra clinked a spoon against his glass. They had all gathered to have a meal while reminiscing tue events of the past year but mainly re-living their best memories of both Payal and Vishwas. 

"I am glad you could all make it."

"But how did we pull it off?" Mahendra's father asked. 

"I offered Raima, Payal's room on purpose," Warden Pawar said with a chuckle. "There have been a few suicides in the past and we never realised how. But Raima had been instrumental for those deaths too."

"I was the apparition," Naseem looked at Payal's photo and sighed.  "I am sorry Payal, I don't think I can ever step into your shoes. But this was me wanting my revenge what she did to you and to me."

"But did you know she would jump?" Payal mother asked in shock. 

"No aunty, I only just wanted to threaten her. I wanted to drive her insane and wanted that song to scar her too....But..." Naseem bit into her lip and looked at her Mother. She nodded with a sigh. Forgiveness was divine, but sometimes one had to fight for justice. 

"And the inspector who shook hands with Freddie, he was my cousin. He wanted to avenge Vishwas's death and he agreed. He planted the revolver when Freddie was busy ordering dinner and he also planted the envelope and ensured he shook hands with Freddie with Akshay watching him."

Everyone chuckled. "And I chased Vikram towards the reserve...I placed the tree and that boulder....but it was easy, he was in trouble with local goons, he was running from them and end up falling into my web." Mehendra finally declared. 

Everyone laughed again and sighed at the frames of Payal and Vishwas

The tape was set up and Mahendra turned it on. "Hum Tum Ek kamare main band ho..." the song began to play and everyone chuckled. 

"This song left us shuddering for over a year. But from tonight, this song holds a special place in our heart. This song heralds a new dawn. A dawn of victory, a dawn of retribution, a dawn of reformation, a dawn of celebration."

Everyone clapped and laughed. 

There were new laws in place against bullying at colleges. Payal and Vishwas's death hadn't gone in vain. SJS was under intense scrutiny. Principal Mehta had lost his mental calm and was now in an asylum while Sanyal was ousted out of his party and shamed publicly. Malhotra fled the country while Rodriguez grieved his son's murder. 

Mahendra brushed his fingers against Payal's picture and placed a kiss on her forehead. 

"I love you, you know that and I will always love you forever. And thank you for everything."

Word Count:  1185

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Hello all, hope u guys liked the story. 

Well this was a short story written for the Prestige awards. 

Well there are still no rules against ragging or bullying but some states have a few rules in place against unlawful detainment and assault etc. But it is still vague. 

Yet hundreds of students face raging every year in our country. Some stories are horrifying. I did a bit of research on this topic and was horrified at the stories I read of real people sharing their personal experiences. I do not understand the point of ragging and I wish it would come to an end and we had stronger legal laws against them. 

Do comment guys and let me know what u thought to it. 

As of me I need to run and update Entrapment before u tear me to pieces HEHEE 

Love Chitra.