SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (51)

THE MYSTERY OF THE DISAPPEARING MEN (5) : A CRIME THRILLER SHORT STORY BY ME.

SI Sudhakar found himself locked in a dungeon like room. He was sitting on a moth infested bed and the room had a damp, musty smell. He was never so humiliated in his life. He couldn’t forget the horrible scene that he had witnessed in the police station. How could Inspector Krishan and his brother, PI Vivaan be so heartless? How the hell did they get the video? The serial killer might have sent the video to them. It confirmed his theory that Inspector Krishan and his brother were either directly involved in the kidnapping and murders or helping a murderer to get away with the crime. But the question was why did they do it?

He felt the urge to vomit as the scene kept on playing in his mind. The video showed Navin and Vikram being mauled to death by a lion. The hungry beast was feasting on Navin’s dead body. The stranger entered the cage and decapitated Vikram’s body as well and put the severed body parts in a plastic cover. Sudhakar was making retching noises when the door was opened by Inspector Krishan. He untied his hands and removed the blindfold. Sudhakar glanced at him with lots of questions passing through his mind. Krishan said, ” Go to the restroom first, if you feel like vomiting. I know you want to ask plenty of questions as to why I am helping the real killer. Just freshen up and listen to what I say. If you don’t believe me, I have the diary written by the real victim in these cases and also some more clips that might damage the reputation of the noble Police profession.”

Sudhakar went to the restroom and relieved himself. He came back to the room where Inspector Krishan had ordered tea and biscuits. They had tea and Inspector Krishan began to narrate the tale of horror that could rattle even the bravest of warrior:

“It started exactly an year ago. Sonia Mehra was a final year graduate student at Lady Sriram College for women. She was drop dead gorgeous and had plenty of male admirers. But she was never interested in them. Her goal was to complete her post graduation and get an MBA. But her family wanted to see her getting married at the earliest after the Nirbhaya gangrape case had them worried about her. They also started receiving marriage proposals from eligible bachelors. They showed the photos of many handsome guys to Sonia but she rejected them all. This caused a friction between her and her family.

As the days passed, another beautiful young girl, Pooja Gupta sought admission in the same college and turned out to be Sonia’s classmate. Sonia was very much attracted to her. In fact, she was so smitten by Pooja’s beauty that she went out of her way to help her and actually idolized her. It turned that Sonia was more attracted towards women than men. Yes, she was a lesbian, a fact that she couldn’t admit to her traditional Orthodox family. Since Sonia was the gold medalist for the past two years, Pooja decided to take advantage of her. She started mentally exploiting her to do the projects for her and help her to pass the exams.

As the final year exams came to an end, Sonia decided to confess her feelings to Pooja who seemed to sympathize with her and said, ” I am sorry, Sonia. I do like you a lot and you have been my best friend but the society doesn’t accept the marriage between same sex. I don’t want to become a laughing stock in the society because of your crush on me.” ” But,” pleaded Sonia, ” I will take care of you like a queen. I can’t imagine a life without you. I know my parents will disinherit me if I told them that I prefer you as my life partner. Don’t worry, Pooja. I can take good care of you like any man. ” Pooja seemed to be lost in thoughts and questioned her, ” I hope you realize the consequences of your actions. Did you ever think about your parents who have acquired jewelry for your marriage? Won’t it be in vain? ” Sonia replied, “I don’t care about it. If you want, I will get them for you. If you have problems being seen with me, I will undergo a gender change operation just to be with you.”

Pooja replied, ” That’s a great idea. You know what, my brother, Navin is a doctor and he might know someone who will assist you with the surgery. Why don’t you get your jewelry and cash and come to my home? My brother is very supportive and would surely help.” Poor Sonia! She fell for a big trap.

She stole everything from her house and packed her bag to reach the Guptas’ residence. Pooja welcomed her and introduced her to Navin who was enamored by her beauty. Pooja had already told him about Sonia being a lesbian and wanted to go for a sex change operation. Navin was irked that he couldn’t possess this woman. He hatched a conspiracy with Pooja to deprive Sonia of her possessions including her virginity, capture her pornographic videos and threaten to upload it online unless she emptied her father’s bank balance.

Later that night, Pooja laced Sonia’s drink with sedatives. Navin forced himself upon her and raped her while Pooja was taking the video. His friends, Vikram, Akshar and Ankit walked in unannounced to catch him in action. They took turns in raping her all night while Pooja was laughing at her helplessness. They made her a prisoner for several days to keep sexually exploiting her, until she could take it no longer and finally escaped from the prison. She approached our police station to file a complaint but one of the accused, Ankit, turned out to be the Assistant Superintendent’s son. The ASP also raped her while he asked one of his cronies to take the video. I entered the unfortunate crime scene and tried to help the half-dead poor girl. But ASP threatened to fire me if I opened my mouth. It was then that I realized that people having power, sometimes, misuse it to get away with the crime. I convinced ASP to let her go and that she was in no position to speak to anyone, let alone file a complaint. I persuaded him to let me take her home. I got her admitted in a hospital where she undertook treatment. I called her parents but they refused to have anything to do with her.

Nearly eight months passed. I gave her shelter in my house as my younger sister but you know the mentality of people. They started talking about us and tried to stigmatize our relationship. Whenever she applied for a job and attended the interview, her beauty would instigate most of the employers to get her into bed with them in return for a job. I felt very sorry for her and decided that she should go for a sex change operation. And she did!

Do you still think these monsters deserved to live after what they did to her? I am sure this wasn’t the only girl, they preyed upon. The ASP, now, SP is a rogue who supported them and turned a blind eye to their misdemeanor in exchange for the supply of a female flesh. Somehow, I managed to get the video clips from The SP who left his mobile unattended on the table. The stranger is none other than Sonia who is now Sohan. If you feel that I did anything wrong, you are free to go and report me to the rascal.”

SI Sudhakar was shocked beyond words. He almost fainted but the Inspector offered him a glass of water, waiting for his decision. Watch out for the next episode for more twists and turns.

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