Chapter 32
kavin and dushyant shared perplexed glances, as they witnessed ishita covering her face, while tears rolled down her eyes, and purvi was trying to console her. kavin walked to riaan, lying unconscious, as he checked for his pulse. he gazed at dushyant while shaking his head in no, as dushyant got the message, he was no more.
"ishita, tum, thik ho?" asked dushyant reluctantly, with what he thought could be the thing he was supposed to say at the moment.
ishita simply shook her head in no, as she bit her lip, trying not to scream from the pain, and bursting into tears again.
"it's ok..." consoled purvi, as she rubbed her back.
suddenly, ishita stood up, and ran to the bathroom with her mouth covered with her hand. the door closed, as sounds from the bathroom had made it clear, she had vomited.
dushyant, instinctively, was about to go be there for her, but purvi stopped him, and went instead.
"she, won't be, comfortable around a man, right now..." explained kavin, as he patted dushyant's shoulder, who nodded in agreement.
he realised it was the sensible thing to do, and he might have realised it before, if it wasn't his very first instinct to be there for her in need.
"yeh dono kahan marr gaye hain!" exclaimed satish, as he stood at the gate of his appartment with a torch.
"main ek baar try karti hoon, kavin ka phone..." suggested meera, as she dialled his number.
suddenly, they heard blaring of an ambulance alarm.
"main dekh kar aata hoon..." said satish as he left, when anjula came out.
"purvi bhi gayab hai?" questioned meera, as anjula nodded in agreement, and meera just shook her head.
"haan, hello, kavin?" said meera as he finally picked up.
"mom, woh, hum, aap seventh floor pe aa jao, jiss flat ka darwazaa khula hai, wahi hain..." informed kavin, with the best of the words he could come up with right now, as he hung up.
"ab kya karein iska?" asked kavin, as he pointed to riaan's dead body, as dushyant tried to figure this out.
"wahan kya kare rahe hain yeh teeno?" questioned anjula, as meera just shrugged her shoulders.
"guard pe hamla kar diya kisine...ambulance so leke jaa rahi hai..." informed satish.
"kisne?" asked meera.
"pata nahi, lagta hai koi ghuss aaya tha society mein, main switch bhi uss hi ne band kiya hoga...police aati hi hogi..." responded satish.
"well, tab tak, hum, apne bachon ko, ek khulle hue flat se laayenge...apparently..." remarked meera, as satish looked at her, puzzled.
"bache ko barein mein koi yeh warnings kyun nahi deta, kabhi-kabhi ajeeb se hi baat karenge..." grumbled anjula, as the trio walked to the stairs.
"ok, toh ab inhe kya kahaani sunani hai?" asked dushyant to kavin, as purvi came out of the bathroom.
"thik hai woh, she just, wants to be alone, for now..." informed purvi, as they both nodded in agreement.
"ishu! ishu!" yelled ishita's grandmother as she entered her room, and witnessed the trio around riaan's dead body.
"kaun ho tum log! kya kiya tumne isse!" yelled her grandmother, as she held onto the back of her head.
purvi grabbed the grandmother.
"don't worry, hum, dost hai, ishita ke, aap logon ki help ke liye aaye hain." assured purvi.
"inhone rape kardiya tha ishita ka...yeh na maarti, toh rukta nahi woh.." stated dushyant bluntly to ishita's grandmother, who was shocked by the revelation.
"ishita...ishita, kahan hai ishita!" she yelled.
"dekhiye, usse, abhi, akele rehne ki zaroorat hai, yeh sab, process karne ke liye, chinta mat kijiye, woh thik hai.." calmed kavin.
"thoda dhang se nahi keh sakta tha?" scolded dushyant to kavin.
"it's a disgusting thing, whatever way i say it, it will remain disgusting." retorted dushyant.
meanwhile ishita's grandmother detested herself for claiming how riaan was such a good father to ishita, she felt as if all of this was her fault.
suddenly, meera, satish and anjula entered the room.
"kya kar rahe ho tum log yahan, aur kiska ghar hai yeh?" questioned anjula.
"iss aadmi ko kya hua hai?" pointed meera to riaan's dead body, as anjula froze at her spot upon seeing him.
only for ishita to come out of the bathroom at this point, as her grandmother rushed to grab her.
"ishu, beta, i am so sorry, mujhe bilkul nahi pata tha yeh aisa karega tumhare saath..." she repented, while hugging her.
"tum!" exclaimed meera upon looking at ishita.
"aap dono jaante ho ek dusre ko?" questioned dushyant.
"haan, woh, par, tumhe hua kya hai...tumhari aisi haalat.." responded meera, as anjula knew exactly what had happened.
"apni beti ko bhi nahi choda isne..." remarked anjula.
"arre koi, batayega seedhe-seedhe, yahan hua kya hai!" shouted satish.
"uhh, toh hum log, dost hai, ishita ke..." explained kavin, as he pointed to ishita.
"aur abhi yahan kya kar rahe ho?" questioned satish.
"uhh,see that's, a good question, dad...uhh, toh, jab main, check karne gaya, fuse, purvi ke saath, toh mujhe, uhh, guard mila, khoon se latpat...aur humne ambulance ko phone kiya, aur humein kuch khoon, se latpad, uhh, footprints dekhe, humne woh follow kiye, humein laga ki humlaawar humare ghar ki taraf na gaya ho, lekin jab woh aur upar jaate hue dekhe, toh ishita ki chinta mein...aa gaye hum..." explained dushyant, missing out the parts of the story he thought were unfit to tell for now.
"aur phir ishita ki nani behosh thi, uhh, kisine inke sarr pe maara tha...aur ishita ke cheekhne ki awaaz se hum, yahan aaye..." added purvi.
"main inn dono ka peecha karte hue aaya tha.." informed kavin.
"isne, zabardasti ki, tumhare saath?" questioned meera to ishita, pointing to riaan, as she nodded in agreement.
"purvi, tumne maara isse?" questioned anjula.
"i just, wanted to, save her..." responded purvi.
"nahi, thik kiya tumne...i am assuming he's dead..." stated meera, as dushyant nodded in agreement.
meera glanced at ishita, reminded her of jyoti, someone who was almost destroyed by the same man. she didn't want her to suffer the same fate. she walked to riaan, and examined him. he didn't have a lot of bleeding on the back of his head.
"time of death?" asked meera.
"uhh, 10:30 baj rahe honge..." responded dushyant.
"koi beemari thi tumhare papa ko?" questioned meera, as ishita shook her head in no.
"cause of death, heart attack, likh dungi, death certificate mein...he had lost his wife recently, extreme trauma se induced ho sakta hai..." stated meera.
"antim sanskar, subha jitni jaldi ho sake, kardena...laash zyada nahi saddi hui hogi,kisiko zayda shak nahi hoga.." explained meera to ishita, as she gave her a kind smile and patted her shoulder.
"tab tak, laash chupade?"suggested dushyant, as he looked over to kavin, who nodded in agreement.
"police ghar-ghar check karegi, unn footprints ke kaaran.." informed satish.
"society ki chat mein, ek kona hai...ekdum unn tankiyon ke khatam hote hi, wahan koi nahi jaayega." stated anjula, as she blankly looked at riaan's dead body, it was this feeling of poetic justice that had consumed her.
"toh yahan se, bas ek aur floor hai, police ko time lagega yahan pahaunchte hue." noted kavin.
"thik hai, chalte hai phir..." said dushyant, as purvi accompanied them for her phone's flashlight would be used, as they dragged him.
"toh, police ke aane se pehle, main switch on hoga nahi...gayi aaj raat ki neend." remarked satish.
