CHAPTER C
A TALE FROM THREE CITIES
4)A GIRL WITH A PEACOCK TATTOO
The sky was a billion pure eyes of light glowing like a summer peach and sun a pure gold dome lit up in the horizon, dawn sent shimmering rays over the placid ocean bestowing a golden path from the shore to the horizon.
Constable Krishnamoorthy was enjoying the lightening sky that is swallowing it's brilliant freckles too quickly as he was in regular patrolling across the shore.
Suddenly he noticed something lying cold and floating off the shore. Initially he thought it was the remains of wastes that citizen of calicut city leave behind every morning, but up on approaching closer he noticed a corpse.
A young girl almost naked with signs of enchainment and rigorous torture was lying prone over the sand with sea water drooling from her angle of mouth. Cop was shocked, he ran off shore to nearest shed and ripped of the banner from its roof to cover her. He examined her without soiling the evidence, meanwhile he noted she was trying to breathe.
He soon passed message to his senior who was patrolling besides the coast in his jeep. They both took her to the medical college, was admitted in ICU not knowing her identity. Head constable jeevan who came to examine her under doctor's guidance noticed no identification marks on her except a tattoo on the chest.
A peacock between her breasts with its tail wide open till both collar bones gave her the nickname 'The girl with the peacock tattoo'. Despite of repeated advertisements on newspapers and routine investigations they couldn't determine her identity for almost a week.
A retired matron from medical college accidentally noticed her lying in ICU bed and recognised her as an old graduate from the same college, though further clarification were necessary. Jeevan uncle carried out detailed enquiry among the house surgeons at the medical college and discovered she was Dr Aarthi verma.
She had completed her course in the year 1992 and did house surgency in the same hospital for another one year. There after nobody remembered where she had vanished, including her colleagues.
Her parents were intimidated soon from the records available with the faculty. Since she remained unresponsive for over a month, things happened to her remained suspicious. There were evidences of repeated forced sexual intercourse and physical torture including head injury.
So case was initiated under sections 307, 320 and 370 of indian penal code, initiated in town station. The curiousity increased when her own parents claimed she was doing rural tenure in sultan batheri following her internship, while the staff at the primary health centre hardly recognised her.
"She was a studious girl through out her college days and of course a proficient doctor during her OP days" Her colleagues comemorated her during police enquiry.
But everyone memorizes her charming company, untill she fell in love with a young military doctor who was then posted at ARO (Army Recruiting Office).
"She was a borne leader for all of us. She had the skills close to a clinical tutor during our intern days. She aspired to grab a post graduation in surgery and further become a cardio thoracic surgeon. But everything changed once they started dating." Her colleagues recollected their days together in college.
There after whole investigation went behind that guy, her ex boyfriend who had fled to a north eastern state by then. Major Yousuf Shah, a graduate from armed forces medical college of 1990 batch was kept as prime suspect and military authorities were intimidated.
They had met during some recruitment rally and fell in love with each other. They started roaming around more often and she gradually detatched from her routine friends.
Following house surgency they had started living together in a flat in the heart of the city which she intentionall hid from her parents.
She had attempted for service selection board once neglecting high ranks she got in post graduate examination. Her best friend remember herself quarrelling with her when she adviced her to take up the 'medicine' seat at government medical College theni.
"She hid everything from her parents. She had enough marks to fetch a medicine pg seat in theni, but gave that up on his influence and did resident ship in a health centre at kondotty. They thought she was in bathery and used to come home in weekends but in real they were living together." She said.
"She wanted to join armed forces so that they could be together forever. But failed on her first attempt. There were some misunderstanding between them as she lost her service selection on first attempt, being pregnant." Remember her colleague at health centre Radhika ma'am.
"She aborted that child and they parted their ways for a while. The indifferences didn't last for long, he came back to her and started supporting each other."
There were evidences left on her flat regarding their past cohabitation and frequent tours to goa, bangalore and Pondicherry. The suspicious fact was that he had got posted out from ARO just a week prior to the one she was last seen.
The case was only around that young doctor untill he arrived his prior unit and accepted to converse directly with the police. He had a different story to tell, which paved to new break throughs in the case.
"Sir, I accept all those which you have discovered so far by your investigation. We were in love, were in close relationship which we hid from both our parents but we wanted to proceed beyond that. I landed at Calicut on new year eve to convince her to talk with her parents. I had disclosed to my parents about her, they protested initially but couldn't refuse my dream for long.
She was afraid as she belonged to a high class hindu family, myself being a muslim. We planned a weekend getaway to mahi and returned to calicut saturday afternoon. Though I was ready to meet her parents to talk about our future, she refused.
