The courtroom was overcrowded.  Today’s case had attracted the attention of the entire city.  The lanky lady Mahima’s photo was on the front page of almost all leading newspapers on that day, a month ago.  People were shocked as to how that weak looking lady could be a murder accused.  The best part of the case was that most of the people felt happy about the murder but were sad that the poor lady would have to face the law.  Law was a bit funny.  Whatever may the circumstances under which a person gets murdered, the accused is still held guilty before law!    

Madan, Sridhar, Shaheed and Menon were also in the courtroom.  They had taken leave to attend the court.  Mahima was their colleague.  She had been a mystery to them from the time she joined their branch about two years ago but they had never ever imagined that she could turn to be so mysterious – a murderer! “I can’t believe da.  How could this weakling murder that sturdy watchman?” said Sridhar into Madan’s ears.  “That’s what we have come here to crack.  Be patient da.  She will spill the beans today”, replied Sridhar.  

Mahima reported at their branch on a Saturday.  Though she was introduced to all the employees, she hardly nodded her head and made no attempts to get closer to anyone in the office.  She kept to herself.  Even when the other lady employees invited her to have lunch with them, she curtly refused saying that she never ate lunch in the office.  She used to work even during the lunch recess.  Raji, who stayed very close to where Mahima lived, told her friends that Mahima lived alone in a small outhouse.  She never mixed with anyone even there and was more a loner.  She had no visitors.  She walked all the way to and from the bus terminus, which was around 3 kms away, instead of catching the bus at a stop nearby.    

Madan and his friends faced Mahima’s wrath on that day when she heard them making lurid remarks about Stella, who usually wore sexy clothing.  Of course she never spoke out but her cold stare was enough to tell them what she felt like.  “Arre, what’s her problem da?  Why is she glaring at us?  This flat female has no emotions and so thinks all of us here are dry saints!” Ravi had remarked.  “She is quite a crazy woman da.  The other day I was traveling in the same bus in which she was traveling and had a shocking experience.  The bus was overcrowded.  She was sitting on the aisle seat.  Suddenly she got up and slapped a youngster standing beside her shouting abuses at him.  It seems he was pinching the bottom of a college girl in front of him.  That girl was in tears.  But she said nothing.  Why should this lady react so much?  I couldn’t understand”, said Shaheed.  

The newspaper report on one day said that her handbag contained safety pins, a penknife, a blade and about Rs.30 to Rs.40.  There was nothing ‘female’ in her bag.  Surprising!  Why did she carry these?   

“Order, order”.  Suddenly there was silence, as the judge came and occupied his seat.  After two to three petty cases, THE case of the day was taken up.  Mahima was called.  After taking the oath, Mahima looked at the judge and everybody else in the courtroom with tears in her eyes.  Her colleagues were stunned to see Mahima in tears.  So this stonehearted lady could cry!  

“Respected Sir, I am guilty of this murder and request you to award only death sentence to me.  I do not want to face the lengthy legal process because I have nothing to hide”, Mahima said.  

Immediately there was commotion in the courtroom.    

“Order, order”.  

“Madam, law is not that simple.  You cannot avoid going through the process.  But, I give you the opportunity to speak up first.  Please tell us what prompted you to murder this man. You could have just handed him over to the police”, said the learned judge.  

“Sir.  I have lost faith in this system.  I don’t believe that the real culprits are punished.  That is why I did so.”  

“You have lost faith in law?  Why?  You must have had some experience.  What is it madam?” 

“Sir.  Is that necessary here?  I am pleading guilty.  Why do you dig my past?”  

“No madam.  I am not digging.  This is a legal requirement.  We need to know the truth in entirety.  Who is your lawyer?”  

“I have no lawyer.  I do not want one.  I do not want to escape punishment.  Okay.  If you insist on knowing everything, here is the story”.  

Everybody in the room listened to Mahima with pin drop silence.  

“Sir.  I lived with my loving husband Rajan and my beloved daughter Surabhi at Trivandrum.  Rajan worked as an engineer in a Government Department.  I was working for a private firm.  Till Surabhi was five years old, my parents at Trichur took care of her.  After she started her schooling, we brought her to Trivandrum.  After school, she used to stay with our landlord’s family till we returned home.  The landlords were nice people and we had no problem.    

“Surabhi was 12 years old then.  One day, I had some extra work in the office and reached home at around 7 O’Clock in the evening.  At around 5 in the evening, I had called my landlords to inform them that I would be delayed.  Surabhi herself picked up the phone and said that uncle and aunt, as she called them, had gone to the temple.  Their children Krishna and Kriti were with her.  They were playing.  But when I came at 7, there was a big crowd in front of my house.  I ran in with panic and found my sweet little daughter lying in a pool of blood.  The landlord and his wife were sitting beside the body with fear and tears.  I fell swoon on seeing that.  “Mahima.  We are sorry Mahima.  Pick up courage”.  No word of theirs entered by dazed mind.  Rajan was called urgently.  I later learnt that four college students who were staying in the other portion had entered the house, tied up Krishna and Kriti and raped and murdered Surabhi.  All this had happened in a gap of one hour.  Aunty and uncle came back at 6.45 and were shocked.  What about neighbours?  Did they not hear the child screaming?  Our house was in a lonely area and houses were situated far away from each other.  Nobody even tried to add any detail fearing the long hands of law.  Our life was wrecked Sir.   

 All this happened 8 years ago.  All the four students were arrested after an investigation of two months.  The case was going on.  But since the students were all from very influential families, they were let out on bail in two years. The lower courts dismissed the case for want of enough evidence.   Rajan and I had no life.  We didn’t want to end our lives just because we wanted justice to be done and culprits to be punished.  We appealed to the High Court. 3 years ago, Rajan committed suicide unable to bear the depression.”  

At this stage, Mahima started weeping intensely.  Everybody in the court was in tears.  Madan and his friends were really touched.  They were cursing themselves for making such irresponsible conclusions about Mahima.    

“Sir.  You might be wondering how I am still alive.  For all practical purposes, I am dead.  I was alive with the only  hope that I could get the culprits punished.  I quit my job at Trivandrum and joined this firm here at Delhi, as I wanted to be far away from the scene, from all those gory memories.  I used to go to Trivandrum only to the attend the court.  But to my utter dismay, last fortnight, I lost the case even at the High Court Sir.  The students could falsely prove that they were out on a picnic on that fateful day and they could even disprove the DNA tests. I was very upset.  That is why I said I had lost faith in this system, which stands only on paper and eyewitnesses.  It is left to the ingenuity of the accused to twist the law to any extent and disprove crimes.”  

The court was adjourned on that day.  Mahima’s colleagues went home with heavy hearts.  No wonder Mahima had not been a normal person.  She had got that job through their Managing Director Mr. Shankaran.  He was decent enough not to disclose any of her personal details to anyone.  He was the only person to whom she would sometimes say ‘Hello’.    

Mahima disclosed what happened on that fateful day, when she turned a murderer, on the next day.    

As usual, she was returning from her office.  She was walking from the bus terminus.  As she was passing by that huge bungalow, she heard some child’s wailing sound faintly.  She stood by to listen intently.  She peeped into the massive iron gate.  She saw a big dog tied to a tree on the left side.  The dog was barking without resting.  This house was on a corner site.  She looked at the house on the other side.  Some construction work was in progress.  All the workers had left.  The watchman of that building was chatting with the watchman of the bungalow on the opposite side.  She went to them and told, “Who is in that bungalow Saab?  I can hear some child crying continuously.  I feel she is in trouble.”  

They looked at her queerly and said, “Arre.  There is a ferocious dog.  Watchman Veer Singh is there.  Who can be in trouble?  Maybe they are watching television or maybe the mother is abusing the child.  After all it is just 5 O’Clock in the evening.  What can happen?  You don’t worry”.  They did not want to come to her help.    

Her instinct told her that something was terribly wrong.  She saw the watchman’s cabin, which was empty.  She slowly opened the gate and waited to ensure that there was no other dog.  She then went towards the bungalow.  The sound was now louder and could be heard in between the dog’s barking sound.  She went towards the sound, which came from the right side of the house.  She peeped into the windows one by one and she was shocked as she peeped into that bedroom window.  There was a gap between the two curtains and there she saw a girl, aged about 16-17 years lying almost naked and a man in khaki just walking out of the room.  Mahima’s blood boiled.  Immediately, she recalled all that had happened to her daughter.  She quickly ran to the front door, as she was sure the idiot would come out of the front door.  She hid herself behind the decorative palms near the door, ready with an open knife.  

As she expected, the front door opened slowly and that man stealthily walked out, after looking in all directions.  Unexpectedly, she pounced on him and started stabbing him repeatedly.  He was taken by surprise and lost his balance.  He fell down and she took a huge pot and threw it on his head.  Though he was dead, she kept stabbing him with full anger abusing him all through.  The whole portico turned into a bloody scene of war.  After about 20 minutes, she came to her senses.  She was wet with blood and suddenly thought of the poor girl.  She ran inside.  The girl was unconscious.  Mahima called up the police from there. 

 

Luckily, the girl survived and her parents vowed to help Mahima escape punishment.  They were very grateful to her.    

“Sir.  I now want to die.  I am happy that I could destroy at least one weed out of this beautiful earth.  There are yet so many weeds.  All of us have to be alert and clear the society off them.  Otherwise, so many more innocent flowers like my daughter have to sacrifice their lives.  Though I could not avenge my daughter’s murderers, I am satisfied that I could weed out one bad element. I am sorry for taking law into my own hands Sir.  I could not help.  I had lost trust in law because of my experience.  I don’t regret my action too.”  

This was Mahima’s final statement.  Her colleagues were not interested in the judgement.  They were looking into themselves and cleansing themselves of all the evil that they had thought about Mahima!