The Poetry of Deaths(on Hold)

Chapter 10

Flashbacks.

Sunny showed the video to Sidharth. He paused it and rubbed his temples asking Sunny to unblur the faces in the video. Sunny replied that it was already done by Anuraag. 
"Get the faces and print it."
"Already done."
He pulled out three little hazy photos and one photograph of the girl. He placed them on the table and left.

Gaikwad entered the room.
"There was a girl named Ginny Demalo. She left the session of her college abruptly a few days after this party. She has left Mumbai and went back to her hometown Margoa in Goa."
Showing the girl's photo that Sunny gave, Sidharth asked, "Is this her?"
Gaikwad nodded his head.
"Did you try to talk to her?"
"Her family aren't willing to talk to the police
"I need to talk to her. Arrange everything for today and ask Arvind and Ankita Raj to come tomorrow."
Sunny came rushing inside, "Sorry Sir for barging in without knocking. I found something else right now on Anuraag's laptop. It is folder named Repentance. You must see these."

Sidharth called Shehnaaz informing her that he was leaving that afternoon and would return by the next morning. He along with Gaikwad left for Goa. They got into a vehicle after landing. Around half an hour later, they reached the police station of Margoa. The inspector saluted him on receiving him.

"Sir, the girl's house is about 10 minutes from here. The father has a garage and mother is a primary school teacher. They have a son who works in Bangalore. This girl Ginny, stays at home, doesn't come out or meet people. Neighbours say that she is mentally derailed. She will not talk to you Sir. Koi fayda nahi jaa ke udhar."
The Inspector says on the way.
"Inspector Gupte, fayda hoga ke nahi yeh toh udhar jaane ke baad pata chalega na. I came all the way here to meet the girl and I am not returning back without trying. And one more thing, let me decide if she is sane or not."
Inspector nodded his head, "Yes Sir. I was just giving .."
"I welcome ideas but not unnecessary advice from anyone. Let me do my job and you do yours. "

The vehicle stopped in front of a typical Goan house. A low fence wall with a small iron gate that led to the front porch of a single story home with tiled roof, held by rafters. The house was painted  green and had big glass windows.

Sidharth got down and went inside, followed by Gaikwad and Inspector Gupte. Gupte knocked at the door and after a really long time the wooden door opened and a middle aged lady opened the door. She had short hair that had started to turn grey, a round face, intelligent eyes that had lost its shine was hiding behind a pair of glasses. She wore a printed dress and flip flops.
"Inspector? I had told you, we aren't interested in talking.  Why are you here?"
Sidharth came to the front, "Madam, I am ACP Sidharth Srivastava, Crime Branch, Mumbai. I know you and your daughter are not interested in talking. But just give me five minutes of your time. If you still feel the same, I will leave the very moment and nobody will ever disturb you or your family. I promise that."

Sidharth sat on a wooden sofa in the medium sized living space. Gaikwad sat beside him. The lady, Ginny Demalo's mother, Margaret Demalo came in with three glasses of water.
"What do you want from my daughter? She is not well."
"I.. know what happened to her when she was in Mumbai."
"Really? You came after two years to tell us that? So what should I do? Celebrate? My daughter had been through hell. Those bas***.. destroyed everything and when my daughter went to the police, she was termed a prostitute. I don't want anything anymore. Please just leave."

Sidharth leaned to the front, "Is your daughter happy? Is she living a normal life? I know the answers. It's a big no. She had suffered then and she is still suffering. I get it, those rich spoiled brats took away her modesty and the police snatched her self respect. But by hiding her, you aren't protecting her but her life is getting wasted. Why should she hide? She didn't do anything wrong. Mam, I can make those culprits pay for their sins. I can get your daughter out of her miserable life. I just want her to tell me everything. Her statement is all I ask for."
"What will happen now? She is in severe depression. We are seeing doctors but nothing is helping. She doesn't talk to anyone. She won't talk to you as well. You can't do anything for us. What can we get now?"
Sidharth got up from his seat and sat beside her. He took her hands in his, "Justice. You will get that. And she needs that to heal. She needs help but first she needs to get back her desire to live again. It can happen only when she starts believing that things will get better. Let me talk to her please."