by Shilpa Jain
“I understand sir. You do what you have to.”
“Very well. I am going to interrogate Pari.” Dejected, DSP Pai gets up from the chair.
“Can I come along sir?”
“I don’t think so. You are a suspected murderer now, not an officer of law. Your suspension order is lying in my office. You will be suspended until this case is resolved. You will be taken into custody as soon as you are discharged.”
Tanvi nods and fights to hold back her tears. ”Right sir,” she replies in a cracking voice.
DSP Pai stares at the floor for a while. He then says, “Yadav, just off the record, Abram is the one who can save you. Get all the help you can. I want you back in my unit. I don’t care whether you are the burqa killer or not.”
Tanvi nods. Patil and Soma come back into the room.
“Get well soon ma’am. We want you back,” greets Patil.
“I am not sure about coming back Patil.”
“Ma’am, I was wrong about Harsh Hegde. He is doing all in his power to help you come out clean.”
“I am glad to hear that. Just don’t let him know that I know.”
They smile and leave.
DSP Pai, Patil and Singh meet the doctors treating Pari.
“Doctor, can I interrogate Pari?” enquires DSP Pai.
“Certainly not sir. She is recuperating. Although the symptoms of marijuana withdrawal are not severe, we don’t want to increase her anxiety. Besides, we want to evaluate her mental health while we can.”
“When can I come back?”
“A couple of days later.”
“Ok.”
Outside the room, Pari’s father, Mr Lohana, and her little brother are waiting. Mr Lohana rushes to meet DSP Pai.
“What has happened to my little girl? She is unrecognisable.”
“That’s what we are here to find out Mr Lohana. Let her recover and then we will know.”
Tanvi rests for the whole day. At night, she feels better and switches on the television. On Galaxy news channel, news reporter Hiral is reporting:
“Yesterday was an unbelievable day for all of us. The crime investigation, police and forest departments conducted a joint operation to crack the case that had baffled and terrified our city for the past eight days. They caught the tantric killers and claimed to have caught the burqa killer as well. They have wished us a safe and happy Diwali. It is good to know that the city is secure again.
“But there is a twist in the story. Crime branch Inspector Tanvi Yadav is the suspected burqa killer!
“The burqa killer was thought to be a civilian, but she is an officer of law! What made this protector of law turn against it? Will our legal system forgive her? Will it bow down to public demands of letting her go?
“We shall soon find out. We have invited a few experts to our studio to discuss how our legal authorities may deal with the burqa killer. Aamir… can you focus on…”
Tanvi switches off the television. It is 1 a.m. The corridors of the hospital are quite. Tanvi disconnects her IV line and steps out of her bed. As soon as she gets up, she hears a beeping sound in her room. Looking around, she realises that her pulse oximeter is beeping. She quickly tip-toes to the machine and switches it off. No other alarm is triggered by her action. She peeps outside her room door. The corridor is vacant. A couple of nurses and ward boys are dosing at the nurse’s station.
The talkative nurse tending to her had already blurted out the room numbers of Pari, Abram and Makrand while sponging her. Abram and Makrand are sharing room number 1455 on her left. She slips into the room. The lights are dim. Abram and Makrand are asleep.
Tanvi goes near Abram’s bed. He seems to be sleeping peacefully. She caresses his forehead and kisses it. He opens his eyes when she is leaning over him. He gasps on seeing her.
“It’s okay. It’s me,” she whispers.
He rummages for his spectacles on the side table and wears them. “Hey! You okay?”
“Yes, and you?”
“I’ll be fine,” he replies gently touching her cheek.
“Did you see me killing the tantric killers?” asks Tanvi.
“Did you kill them?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Then, I didn’t see anything. Marijuana causes temporary memory loss.”
“Abram, DSP Pai had come to visit. He said I am in trouble. Everyone thinks I am the burqa killer.”
“Are you?” he quirks his eyebrows.
“You don’t trust me?”
“I do. We will work something out.”
“Abram, I… I love you.”
His lower jaw drops. “Sorry? You said something?”
“You heard me,” she smiles.
“I didn’t. Could you repeat? Please.”
Makrand speaks from the adjacent bed separated by a curtain, “I guess I am out of the race then.”
Tanvi smiles and pulls the curtain away, “Hey Makrand, you doing fine?”
“Who are you? Marijuana has taken away my memory,” he beams.
Abram interrupts, “Although I am glad that you don’t remember her, you are over reacting to marijuana. You will be easily proven hostile in court.”
He then looks at Tanvi, “If you will excuse me, I have to train this thick-skulled trainee to become a reliable witness.”
Tanvi chortles and leaves the room. She decides to visit Pari in room number 1453. Singh is guarding the room. As soon as she sees Tanvi approaching, she takes a restroom break.
In the room, Pari is breathing heavily. She seems restless. She moves slightly and then momentarily opens her eyes. Tanvi is standing and staring at her.
Pari has a black mark on the outer side of her right eye, identical to Chamundakaal’s mark. Tanvi takes a look at Pari’s right upper arm. There is an unmistakable cut mark similar to the one that Chamundakaal had.
These were the identification marks of Chamundakaal!
Tanvi looks at the black mark closely. It appears to be a deep burn.
All this pain to look like Chamundakaal in the past eight days? Why? What has happened to her? It’s almost impossible to believe that she is the same girl seen in the photograph provided by her family.
Tanvi goes through her medical reports. Some of her findings are highlighted:
- Ovotesticular disorder of sex development.
- Current blood testosterone level corresponds to the levels in blood of males at puberty
- Genetics: XX with SRY mutation
- External sexual characteristics are ambiguous
Was she a transgender? What turned her into a serial killer?
Tanvi feels fatigued and sinks into a chair in front of Pari. She tries to awaken Pari.
Pari moves a little and opens her eyes. “Get my chillum,” she yells.
Tanvi is taken aback on hearing Pari’s hoarse voice.
“You are in the hospital for recovery Pari,” replies Tanvi in an attempt to orient her.
“Pari? Pari is dead long back. I am Chamundakaal. Om karala-badanam ghoram mukta-keshim chatur-bhuryam.
kalikam dakshinam dibyam munda-mala… “
“Whoa whoa stop! I believe you are Chamundakaal. Now tell me where is Pari?”
“I sacrificed her on the day I abducted her. I offered her blood to her mother and to this world before she departed. I reside in her body now. I was to make offerings to the mahavidyas. You… you… disrupted my ritual.”
Pari tries to get up to attack Tanvi. Tanvi gets up quickly and moves back to defend herself.
What’s going on here?
“I will offer myself to you if you tell me what you did to Pari before she died?”
“Why should I tell you anything?”
“Because you owe me an explanation. You were going to sacrifice me too.”
“I owe you nothing. You are a mere mortal.”
“Okay, what if I promise to give you your chillum?”
Pari takes a deep breath and licks her dry lips.
“Okay. I met Pari’s mother when Pari was 8. Her mother was depressed and dying. She was worried about Pari. She was the only one who knew that Pari was neither a male nor a female, or probably both. She was a rare find. I promised to take her away. Her mother was relieved because she knew that Pari had no future in the regular world. She would only bring shame to the family. But in our world, she was a precious find, a pure soul, a vehicle to become immortal. Now, go get my chillum.”
“Yes, but after you tell me everything.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What did you do to her when you kidnapped her when she was 8?”
“I performed a preliminary Mahakali puja to establish Pari as my vehicle to immortality. She recited all the mantras and completed the ritual. She became my disciple. I explained to her that nobody in her house wants her because she was different. She was born for a special purpose. She was sent for me. She could trust nobody except me.”
“Did you meet her after that?”
“After I was in prison, my disciple Kaalbhairav met her several times. Initially, she was scared of him, but gradually she began trusting him. He taught her all the mantras and rituals she had to perform regularly.”
“Where did they meet?”
“Near the tower of silence. After I destroyed my body in the prison fire three years ago, I began residing in Kaalbhairav’s body and met Pari several times.”
“Did you know about the fake tantric who was trying to scare her?”
“Ha ha, yes… the funny man. I knew he was sent by her step mother. I told Pari to have some fun by telling her step mother that ‘she knew her secret’.”
“When did Pari start taking marijuana?”
“A long time ago, few times a month.”
“Why did you kill Soniya?”
“I want my chillum. I am not talking without that.”
“I said I will give it to you. Keep your voice low.”
“Get out of here before I decide to destroy you,” shouts Pari.
Soma enters the room on hearing the commotion. Tanvi signals her to go out. She too follows her.
“Singh, when is her interrogation due?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Great! I want you to get two things for me tomorrow.”
Soma nods and Tanvi treads back to her room. She spends the next day lying down and trying to relax. At night, she visits Abram again.
“Are you feeling well enough to accompany me?”
“Yes, where do you want to take me? Is today my lucky day?”
Tanvi rolls her eyes. “We are going to Pari’s room. I met her yesterday. I’ll tell you everything about it.”
Makrand offers to come, but Tanvi tells him to stay back to avoid raising suspicion. Abram gives Makrand a winning smile before leaving the room.
Outside Pari’s room, Soma hands over a packet to Tanvi. In the room, Tanvi awakens Pari.
“You are back. Have you brought my chillum?”
Tanvi opens the packet and shows her a chillum. “But first, you have to answer my questions.”
“You think I am a fool. I am not talking.”
“Okay. Fine. I want to talk to Pari.”
“I told you she is dead.”
“No, she is not… Pari… talk to me… please… for your mother’s sake.”
Tanvi shows her a photograph of her mother. Pari winces on seeing the blood sprinkled photograph.
Tanvi continues to persuade her, “Come on Pari. You owe an explanation to your mother.”
After some more persuasion Pari’s body language changes. She relaxes her shoulder and softens her face. Although her voice is hoarse, her tone softens.
“My mother? I owe her nothing. She wanted me gone. She hated me. She was ashamed of me,” scorns Pari.
“I am sorry about how your mother treated you Pari. Please tell me where is Soniya?”
“Soniya… Soniya.” She begins weeping.
“Yes Pari, we have to inform her mother. Where is she?”
“She is dead.” Pari cries bitterly.
“Did you kill her?”
“No, she was my only friend. She knew the truth about me. She accompanied me to meet Kaalbhairav and Chamunda baba. We smoked the chillum together. Do you have a chillum?”
“No Pari, tell me who killed her?”
“Kaalbhairav.”
“Why?”
“At first Soniya enjoyed our rituals. But later when it was her turn to be sacrificed, she turned against us. She didn’t want to accompany Kaalbhairav. She wanted to become immortal. But all this was for Chamunda baba, not for us. She threatened to expose us.”
“Who was the girl burnt in the crematorium?”
“An orphan girl who worked in Soniya’s house.”
“But we found your hair and blood in the crematorium.”
“They were offerings before our sacrifice to Mahakaali.”
“No one enquired when the girl went missing?”
“Soniya told her mother that she had left the job.”
“So, the girl was kidnapped long before Soniya was killed?”
“Yes, Kaalbhairav kept her in a safe place with his disciples.”
“Where?”
“In Chamunda baba’s house in a forest near a beautiful lake.”
“In what forest? Have you been there?”
“Yes, a few times with Soniya when we bunked college.”
“Did you meet Chamunda baba in any of those visits?”
“Yes, I remember him, his black mark, his chillum… the smoke… the mantras… the purpose of my birth… I have to be dead… I have to go.”
“No, wait Pari. Why did Chamunda baba sprinkle your blood on your mother’s photograph?”
“To complete the ritual after sacrificing my mother. I had sacrificed her after my father refused to part with me. She did not tell my father the truth. She was too ashamed of me.”
“You killed your mother! Why? How?”
“I had to sacrifice her because Baba wanted me to do that. He was angry with her for not keeping her word of giving me away. I killed her with some powder that I put in her milk every day.”
“Who gave you that?”
“Chamundababa. I have to go… I am dead… like Soniya… he will punish me… please… I need the chillum.”
“Pari… Pari… She is gone,” sighs Tanvi.
“Yes, she is gone and she will never come back because I live here now. Now give me my chillum before I cut off your head,“ shouts Pari in an arrogant tone.
“Yes, I’ll give it to you in a minute, Chamunda baba,” says Tanvi. “Why didn’t you kill us when you had the chance?” asks Tanvi.
“Because that would disturb the sequence of offerings to Mahakali,” Pari breathes heavily.
Tanvi and Abram leave the room. They go to Tanvi’s room to discuss.
“What do you think?” asks Tanvi.
“Personality disorder from chronic marijuana use.”
“You think she is a schizophrenic?”
“There is no other explanation. Childhood psychological trauma and her sexual identity issues may have caused this. Chamundakaal and his disciple have continuously controlled her mind and deluded her from reality. During her childhood, she didn’t seem to have an emotional anchor as well. To add to this, she witnessed the murder of her only anchor, her friend Soniya. That must have been very traumatic.”
“But she murdered her mother.”
“Yeah, Chamundakaal had a strong influence on her. His disciples have tried to turn her into him. From her voice, I feel, she has recently entered puberty with a testosterone spike and is developing a few male characteristics.”
“Didn’t her family notice that there was something wrong with her? I mean her delayed puberty and her marijuana use.”
“Marijuana is washed out of the body in six hours and can go undetected. She may have used it infrequently at nights. Until her delayed puberty… she seemed mostly feminine. It’s only i
n the past eight days that she has developed some male characteristics. Besides, she didn’t have a mother, and had a busy father and an uncaring step mother. Also, she was on medications for her mental illness. All these factors may have masked her actual mental condition.”
“So, did Kaalbhairav kidnap her?” questions Tanvi.
“I would believe so. She has two personalities living in her body right now. Kaalbhairav also had two personalities living within him. Chamundakaal was the common personality in both their bodies. Their minds were really messed up.”
“But Kaalbhairav left no forensic evidence like finger prints?”
“She may have not put up any resistance as she had accepted her fate, and she had lost a lot of blood to stay conscious.”
“So, she must have sprinkled her own blood in the house on Kaalbhairav’s instructions and then just offered herself to him?”
“Looks like that. Then, he must have performed the ritual around the house.”
“Where is Kaalbhairav now?”
“Must be among the dead tantrics.”
“The poor girl! I hope she gets justice,” says Tanvi and embraces Abram.
Abram kisses her forehead and says, “It’s you I am worried about.”
After a couple of days, all of them, except Pari, are discharged from the hospital. The doctors have diagnosed her with multiple personality disorder due to acute psychological trauma and chronic marijuana abuse. During interrogation, she showed traits of Soniya’s personality too!
The court exempts her from attending her court proceedings deeming her medically unfit. She is sent for treatment in a government mental asylum.
Tanvi’s case takes centre stage now. She faces charges of murdering three tantric killers and is accused of being the burqa killer.
Chapter 19
Two weeks after Diwali, news reporter Hiral is reporting on Galaxy plus from outside a fast-track court.
“The courtroom drama in the burqa killer’s case took a new turn today. For all our viewers, we have dramatized the court scene… coming up right now after a short commercial break…
Day 1
Judge: Order! Order! Let the proceedings begin.
Defence lawyer: I have evidence that my client Tanvi Yadav has not committed any of the murders.
Judge: Mr Seth, let’s focus only on the murders of the tantric killers.