The Gospel Truth

X. SUPERSTITION AND THE CROWD

Arun was a real gem for his boss. His father had died in a road accident before his birth what Arun was told in his early childhood and mother was driven into depression after the death of her husband. Consequently, she started performing strange mysterious rituals at midnight and talked directly to her late husband whenever she needed.

One night, when Arun was ten, his mother asked, "Are you still awake, child?"

"Yes, mother."

"Your father was a drunkard."

The child immediately sat up in his bed and shot a questioned glance at his mother, a little more than a skeleton with deep sunken eyes.

"And, a regular wife beater. I don't know why but he enjoyed my cries. He never ever left any chance of punishing me in any way."

"Mother, you know, what are you talking about?"

"Yes, child. One night, he came drunk along with his two friends and ordered me to prepare supper for them. But I, seven months pregnant, was suffering from fever since noon. I wasn't even able to withstand my own weight let alone the cooking. Hence, I called him in, in the pain."

"But, instead of understanding me, he lost his temper and imprinted his leather belt on my whole body without a second thought of my pregnancy."

She was stone-faced; lost in the memories of that night.

"... His friends tried to console him but he was a beast then. They pulled him in another room and then to the alehouse again."

"What happened then, mother?"

"From there, he returned at midnight and asked again for some food. I summoned every bit of my energy and cooked food for him."

"In that condition, mother!"

"Yes dear, my decision made me do so."

"Which decision?"

She was indifferent to the question and continued..., "He ate and left for the drinks again and never came back; what people know. But, in reality, I gave him a poison that night and then chopped-off into pieces and buried him in the dried well in our courtyard." Her big eyes were now wide and sparkling.

The little child was stunned and feared. His whole body went numb at the revelation. But the mind was trying to comprehend his mother.

"Mother, you killed him." He whispered with his all power.

"I had no choice, child."

"Hmmm."

"Come to me, baby."

He moved to her, very slowly. As he reached her, she held his hand into hers and found them cold, very cold. Mother hugged him tightly and caressed him slowly to make him normal. The child slept in his mother's lap for that night.

But, fate was really cruel to them. That very night, Amavasya, three children died of some mysterious disease. The villagers suspect the witchcraft behind this and Arun's mother, the culprit. The doctor wasn't needed then, of course. They first beat her brutally and then hacked to death without any mercy. The child cried begging everyone to leave her mother, to spare his mother but all went in vain. This was the justice of an insane crowd and the crowd never shows any mercy.

The chief of V.S. developers, a big gun in Lucknow real estate, was also a native of the village. When he heard all about the brutal murder, he visited the village and associated ten years old Arun with himself.

The child was never talkative; he preferred to be silent in the crowd. But his mind was razor-sharp and his boss was a real connoisseur. He got him admitted to a school and then college. And, Arun never disappointed him; he passed every exam with the shining marks and after graduation, he was assigned initially some small indoor office works. Soon, he was the in-charge of the office.

Despite the cruel murder of his mother , Arun remained connected to his village. The faint memories of his mother would drag him there whenever he had time. One of his neighbors, Raman, usually consoled him in his loneliness and with the passing time, they turned into friends, really good friends.

Arun asked his boss to pursue his friend's daughter's missing and his boss didn't disappoint him. He immediately talked to the concerned Circle officer of the area who turned to be his old pal.

Neeraj was the prime suspect. But he didn't return that night.

In fact, he never returned. The very next morning, his body was found on the highway. Late last night, he came under the speeding dumper on the highway connecting Sitapur to Lucknow. And, the people thought, he must have committed suicide due to the guilt of the heinous crime he had committed.

And the case was solved, but not closed, in Police files.