Representative Image (Picture Credit: VOA NEWS)

PROLOGUE

 

“Please leave him” shouted Nargis, as two men from the mob kicked her husband Imtiaz in his stomach.

Suddenly, two more mobsters went inside the room in the house.

“Hey…please don’t go there…..Aaah” and Nargis was pulled back hard, and one of the mobsters saw her two-year-old child who was hiding there.

“No…no…no” please leave him…he is just a child,” Nargis said

“And…so were many who died in that train,” said the other mobster as he held Nargis by her hair and pulled her to the ground.

Being pressed to the ground, Nargis was able to see two ends of hell simultaneously. On one side of hers, her husband was being assaulted, and on the other side, the man held her child with all the wrong possible intentions. Nargis…sadly couldn’t do much other than crying for help.

But the story didn’t start that day…the seeds of the disaster were sown….a month before.

 

CHAPTER 1

 

“Hey…have you heard…these Hindus are going to carry out a ‘Rath Yatra’ to the spot where they martyred our mosque” Raza said while having tea at the shop.

“Yes…for building their so-called temple on the place of our mosque. How can they do this? I don’t know, why they just openly don’t say that we Muslims are ‘second-class citizens’ in the country,” Iqbal said while angrily putting the kettle away

“You know what, I think we need to do something to stop them, they need a cracking reply, only then will they understand,” said Raza.

“Yes, yes, you are right, what do they think? We have to teach these Hindus a lesson now?” Iqbal said angrily.

“Hey…are you guys out of your minds…what the hell are you even thinking right now?” Ansari Chacha entered the shop from the house behind.

“Chacha…don’t you think that our rights are under threat…and we need to take it back?”

“Yes Chacha…Raza is right”

“SHUT UP…Just Shut Up…even if they are wrong, it doesn’t mean that we will indulge in wrong too. This is my last warning, I should not hear or see things like these. You guys have no idea how sensitive these matters are and how big an impact they can have”

Ansari Chacha went inside after telling them. Well, some people are immune to the right suggestions, and the two miscreant minds looked at each other with a little villainous smirk.

 

CHAPTER 2

 

The train is jam-packed and one full bogie has been booked by the kar-sevaks, with “Mandir Wahi Banyenge” and “Jai Shri Ram” echoing in the whole bogie.

“It is ’10 years’ since that mosque was demolished, and now we will erect our temple at the birthplace of our Lord”

“Finally our Lord will sit at the place where he rightly belongs…bolo Jai Shri……….”

Suddenly…there was a huge blast in the train and the whole bogie caught fire, in a running train. People with fire all over their bodies started running here and there, leading to complete chaos on the train. While some people were trying to put their heavy stuff on each other with the aim to somehow extinguish the fire, while some others who couldn’t bear that simply jumped out off the train.

It took the train around five minutes to stop. the security forces rushed in with fire extinguishing devices. But, it was well too late and the damage was done. The majority of the people in the bogie had got blazon to death, and the others were taken by the forces, even though they knew that hardly anyone would be surviving out of them. It was the worst form of death, the devotees of the lord could have imagined.

Amid the uproar, two men came out from their bogie (two bogies far from the burnt one). They smirked while looking at each other and murmured “Now say..Jai Shri Ram…HA HA HA HA” a villainous cry echoed at the end gate of the railway station, as officers continued to carry people yearning for burns.

It is said in Quran-e-Sharif that “Whenever an innocent dies, its cost has to be borne by the whole of humanity”, but little did Nargis know that she would be bearing the maximum cost of these lives.

 

CHAPTER 3

 

“Today in the evening, we will go for watching a movie, your Abbu will come home early, so be ready, and am also going to prepare the food quickly,” Nargis said and went inside the kitchen to her big container filled with biryani.

Just 15 minutes would have passed when there were sudden wild knocks at the door of the house.

Nargis got worried thinking if there is something wrong, rushed and opened the door, and found her husband Imtiaz in a very scared and tense state.

The two came in, closed the door, and sat down.

“What happened, why have you come back from the shop so soon,” a worried Nargis asked.

“Nargis…riots have broken out in the whole town. They are slaughtering us like pigs. They are burning our shops…!!!!!”

“Ya, Allah! Have you called the police?”

“Police? What police are you talking about?” screamed Imtiaz, adding that “The police itself is aiding the rioters and taking no bloody action”.

Imtiaz went up and locked the door with all the ends, and all three go inside. They switch off everything that could have made any noise.

After two hours, there were loud knocks at their door. Imtiaz and Nargis stared at each other with tense eyes.

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Imtiaz and Nargis had not made one single noise. They had even had their hands over the mouth of their son Usman’s mouth. After five minutes, there was no more knock at the door. It seemed that whoever was there has gone. But, suddenly, Imtiaz’s phone rang, and in full volume. Imtiaz saw it’s his friend and neighbour Mirza.

He picked it up and murmured, “Mirza!”

“Bhaijaan…please open to door, I have escaped them after much difficulty”

“OK…I am coming…wait”.

Nargis told Usman that they are playing ‘chupa chupi’ game, and asked him to hide inside the other room.

Imtiaz opened the door slowly, and there was no one.

He brought out his head and saw that an injured Mirza is standing at the end of the right-side wall.

“Hey…Mirza…what happened?”, Imtiaz walked up to Mirza.

Mirza stared at him in extreme tension and uttered “I am sorry Mian”

Suddenly, a mob emerged from the left-side wall of the house. Some grabbed Imtiaz, some entered the house and the mob leader took out his gun to shoot down Mirza.

And now, the whole was inside the house.

“Who all are inside the house?” growled a mobster.

“Just the two of us…just we” screamed a shivering Nargis.

 

CHAPTER 5

 

Imtiaz who had fallen down after a hard kick on his stomach was grabbed by two mobsters while two more started hitting him from top to bottom with iron rods.

Two more mobsters held Nargis by her hair, bringing her into utmost pain.

“Please leave him” shouted a teary-eyed Nargis, as she saw a splash of blood coming out of her husband’s mouth.

Just then…Usman was no longer able to keep ‘playing the game’. He started crying, and for the worst, the sound was coming from the adjacent room.

Two more miscreants went inside the room in the house with glitter in their eyes.

“So there was no one else in the house…huh?”

“Hey…please don’t go there…..Aaah” and Nargis was pulled back hard. One of the mobsters saw her two-year-old child who was hiding there.

“No…no…no” please leave him…he is just a child,” Nargis said

“And…so were many who died in that train,” said the other mobster as he held Nargis by her hair and pulled her to the ground.

“I don’t know about any train…or anything you are talking about!!!” screamed Nargis.

“Hey…you guys heard…she doesn’t know about the incident…please let her know…LET HER KNOW” growled the mob leader.

“NO NO NOOO” shouted an injured Imtiaz.

The mob ran towards Nargis, and pressed her down to the ground and held her hands and legs tightly. Here, she was able to see two ends of hell simultaneously. On one side of hers, her husband was being assaulted, and on the other side, the man held her child with all the wrong possible intentions.

The mobsters pounced towards Nargis and held her tight. It was very clear, what were the intentions of the mobsters or monsters I should rather say, while they started tearing down the clothes of Nargis.

“Ammiii” shouted the little Usman while crying madly. He tried to come ahead, fight the goons and save his mother, but the grip of the mobster over him was a little too tight for him.

Nargis stared at him, trying to say that everything will be all right, despite knowing it won’t. But her voice was not coming out in pain, and she kept on staring at her son, in helplessness, unless the man threw and smashed her son into the corner of the wall.

“Usmaaan…” screamed Nargis despite her voice being so broken. But there was no response back. Usman was lying there without any movement.

“That rascal was biting my hand” said the mobster who had thrown Usman like a cushion.

Now, the mobsters decided to continue what they were earlier headed for. By now, Nargis who was crying her hell out had no cloth left on her body. And…the mob started……

“NO NO NOOO”… shouted Imtiaz “Please leave her…please…she is PREGNANT”

Imtiaz knew moment after he said this, that he shouldn’t have disclosed that.

The mob leader approached Imtiaz and slapped him hard.

“You idiot…don’t you have any sense that you should have told this to us earlier,” he said while punching him again.

“You heard it guys, she is pregnant. That’s not what we do to a pregnant woman, do we? Come on, let’s get it right”

His men made Nargis stand by holding her. And, one other man brought his leader his favourite ‘TRISHUL’.

The mob leader held the Trishul in his hand.

“Hey…what are you guys doing…NO, “Imtiaz said with whatever energy he had left.

The mob leader took out his pistol and shot it right onto Imtiaz’s forehead, stopping his voice once and for all.

Nargis with her eyes not able to believe what she saw, tried to shout in immense pain, but almost no voice came out of her vocal cords, after what all she had endured before that.

The mob leader brought his focus back to what he was doing. He positioned his Trishul and pierced it right onto Nargis’ stomach. Nargis could only cry “Allah”, as she was left yearning with blood coming out both from her stomach and her mouth.

“Yeahhh…I am MAHARANA PRATAP” cried the mob leader as his men cheered in joy alongside.

Nargis, fell down completely squeezed. She had no one left in the family, and no clothes on her body, she just lay there awaiting death to come to her and end all this. And yes, it is no rocket science that Nargis was no longer pregnant.

The mob had completed their mission and were returning back. Nargis thought that she can die peacefully, once they all leave. But, just when they were at the door, their leader stopped and said, “Hey…I wasn’t able to do it…let me also have the fun”.

 

CHAPTER 6

 

Nargis gained consciousness after some two hours. She was barely able to stand up. She got a large cloth over her body, and came to the door. Leaving the corpses of her husband and son, and that of her infant inside her body, she came out,begging for some help.

“Hey…is anyone there”

“Please help me”

“They killed my family…they gang-raped me…they…they finished everything…everything’

“Please help me”

“Is anyone here?”

Sadly, no one was there, or at least didn’t show that.

Nargis fell down on road exhausted. A child some 100 metres kept on crying after both of his parents were burned alive in front of him.  Around 100 metres on the other side, a policeman kept standing in the background “discharging his duties”.

 

CHAPTER 7

 

“So this was the story of Nargis…your honour…she has been fighting for justice all alone. Is there anyone in this courtroom who has not shed even one drop of tears? It’s not about tears your honour. These miscreants committed grave and heinous crimes, all this wasn’t possible without some support from the “power chambers”. If they are not punished today, it will set an unerasable precedent in judicial history. I hereby close my arguments hoping that your honour will serve justice to my client,” said Shikha Mishra while representing Nargis in the court.

Shikha went back and sat beside Nargis. She held her hands and nodded giving assurance that she will be getting justice.

And the time came for the court to pronounce the order.

“After hearing all the arguments and witnesses, and looking at the evidences presented to the court, it is very clear that this mob led by Sudhanshu Pandey gang-raped Nargis, killed three men, including a 2-year-old child, and also killed the child, the victim was bearing. The court hereby finds all 11 people guilty, and sends them to life imprisonment. The court also orders the government to pay “Rs 50 lakh” compensation to Nargis after all she faced, though this will be very less for what all she has endured,” Justice Ajay Gupta pronounced the judgement.

Nargis didn’t had the energy left to even happy, she just hugged Shikha and started crying saying “Thank You”.

Shikha moved her hand over Nargis’ head and said “Congratulations. You always asked me why has Allah only kept you alive, after so much. Maybe so that you can bring justice to these monsters”.

So finally, justice was served….but for how long?

EPILOGUE

 

After 20 years, out of nowhere, the “state government” decided to release the life convicts in the Nargis case. The goons came out laughing and waving at their “supporters”. The criminals were garlanded, given sweets and hugged passionately. A few days from then, they also got to share the stage with some “politicians” after their achievements and making the nation proud.

Nargis, too got the news, though she no longer has the energy to even feel pity anymore. She is just thinking, that if she too would have died that day along with her family, it would have been the best thing for her.

While scrolling on social media her eyes fall on a post. There was a picture of a pig feeding her 8 piglets, and the post caption read “Nothing to feel sad, Nargis is a mother of 10 children and enjoying her life…HA HA…”. Another post had pictures of the criminals being welcomed with “red flag” in caption. After all Nargis had gone through, these posts were nothing for her.

Sadly, there was no discussion regarding this in the media circles. No common person felt the gravity of this incident. After all, this was just another thing in the “New India”.

Nargis switched on the radio, and a speech went “Respect for women is important for India’s growth”. Nargis smiled, and went up switching off the radio, and moving towards her room. After all, she has to get ready to fight for justice once again.

 

THE END