Helpless

There are some things, some incidents in life that always stay with you. No matter where you go, or what you do, those memories linger in your mind forever. The dark shadows of some days still hover over your lives, and you are never the same again.

This was one such incident that has not faded over all these years.

 The date was 16th July 1988. We lived in a small peaceful town in the interior of the state, near Pune. Ours was a pleasant green area, surrounded by mountains on all sides and a calm river flowing just outside the town. Mostly the occupants in the area were lower middle-class, averagely earning families who worked hard in or around the residential town to earn a handful. A few breadwinners of the families had taken jobs in Pune, which was just some kilometers away. The mountains around us were beautiful, but they were covered with dense jungles and some wild animals. Our colony of small rowhouses was somewhat at the corner of the town, almost at the foothills of the mountains.

Living in this colony was safe. We occasionally heard some neighbors complaining of stolen items from their lawns, like a shovel, or a plier; or some complained of their scooter’s mirrors or seat covers being taken away. But that was it! Apart from such incidents, something so sinister would happen in the neighborhood was far beyond our imagination.

Deepak and Suvarna were a newly married couple in their twenties. They had come from a very small village in the Sangli district, just two months ago, in May. Deepak had gotten a job in Chinchwad in a factory and so the couple had rented a rowhouse in our colony. Deepak had been asked to stay in the factory quarters along with his colleagues, but Suvarna being with him, he had refused and opted for the hour-long daily travel from our town to his factory. Every night, he returned home late, and again left early in the morning for work.

Suvarna was a very looking and charming young lady. Everybody who looked at her surely glanced for a second time. Her complexion was dusky, but she had sharp features. Being a newlywed, she wore a long and heavy gold mangalsutra, beautiful red bindi, anklets, and sparkling green bangles all the time. She wore sarees mostly, which partially revealed her midriff. Her figure and her overall appearance was just perfect; she was a typical Indian beauty.

The day Deepak and Suvarna were moving in, there was a murmur among the neighbourhood. Everyone was peeping through their windows to take a glance at the couple, but as they settled down, their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Usha Mhatre stepped forward to interact with them and offer them meals for the day. She quickly got friendly with them. She then introduced them to everyone living around. Everyone got to know about their basic details, and especially Deepak’s routine. This was the first time Suvarna had left her village and had come so far away from her family. Suvarna did not talk much but she appeared to be a soft, polite, shy and decent girl. All the ladies welcomed Suvarna and offered the couple any kind of assistance they would need in future.

Life went on for some days.

On 16th July, Saturday night, as usual, Deepak was supposed to return from his factory at around 10pm, but he didn’t. It was raining tremendously and Suvarna patiently waited till 10:30, keeping the main door of the house partially open. But she could not wait any longer, she was very worried for Deepak’s safe return. She picked up an umbrella and rushed to Mhatre Kaki’s house. None of the neighbours had landline phones except a small businessman, Mr. Ramanand Patil; he had a connection in his house. Suvarna, accompanied by Mhatre Kaki, rushed to their house, and called Deepak’s factory. There was a lot of disturbance on the line due to rain, but Suvarna was a little relaxed to hear her husband’s voice on the phone. He quickly told her that there was a severe water-logging due to the continuous downpour on the highway back to the town, he tried to make his way back home, but couldn’t. Finally, he left the public bus, which was stuck for an hour in traffic and walked back in swampy waters to his factory. He decided to stay with his friend in the quarter till the water subsided. He requested Suvarna to be calm, have her dinner and sleep. He would be home in the morning as soon as he could. Suvarna, having Mhatre Kaki and Mr. Patil around, did not speak much, but softly told her husband to take care and put the receiver down. Suvarna wasn’t worried much now. Mhatre Kaki walked her back to her house. The rain now pouring heavily, she insisted Suvarna should come and stay in her house for the night, but Suvarna refused. She said she had enough of chores and cleaning in the house and that she also felt safe and secure in her own house. She convinced Kaki that she would be okay and the two parted ways at around 11 pm.

The next day, 17th July was a Sunday. The rain had not stopped for a second throughout the night and it was still pouring. Everyone was stuck in their own houses and even the colony’s drain had begun to clog. Since it was a holiday, not many people came outdoors.

At 4 in the afternoon, Mr. Patil got a call on his landline. It was Deepak. He said that we was still stuck in the factory and just wanted to speak to Suvarna. He asked Kaka to bring her here, then he would call after 10 minutes. Mr. Patil pulled out his umbrella and went to Deepak’s house. He was surprised to see that the main door was not locked, it was just gently closed. He called Suvarna’s name thrice, but there was no response. Instead of going inside himself, he called Mrs. Mahtre to check on the young lady. As Mrs. Mhatre entered the house, she was horrified to see the bloodied site. In the hall, leading to the kitchen area, Suvarna was lying brutally injured and dead on the floor. There was blood all over the place and her saree had been lifted up exposing her legs. Her dozens of green glass bangles had shattered and fallen all around her, indicating a rough struggle with her intruder. The gruesome sight was too much for the old woman, she screamed rushed outside the house, and felt nauseous. Mr. Patil peeped inside, and he shouted for help too. Suddenly all the neighbours rushed into the house to see what had happened. “Let me call the ambulance and police!”, a neighbor Suresh Deshmukh said as he tried to calm down all the terrified neighbors. Mr. Patil also recalled Deepak’s conversation and rushed to inform him, accompanied by Suresh, Lokesh, Anand, and a few more – a group of middle-aged men who voluntarily took turns to guard the premises at night, with weekly shifts. The guard was surveillant for petty thieves and occasional entry of wild animals in the area. They were long-time residents of the colony and loved the community deeply. They were not paid for the job but did their work sincerely each day. Last night it was Suresh’s turn to guard, but he had gotten wet in the rain and had missed his round for last three days.

As the police and the ambulance arrived, the house was vacated. The police took pictures of the crime scene and started questioning everyone about the victim. “Who had seen the victim last?”, the officer asked.

Mhatre Kaki came forward and narrated what happened last night. She mentioned one special detail, “I now remember, as we walked back from Mr. Patil’s house, I faintly recall seeing her main door open. As she returned, she too stopped for a while staring at the door, but I think she realized she had left it open by mistake as she came in a panic to my place. I saw her go inside safely, and I left too”, Kaki cried as she spoke.

“But didn’t any one of you hear her scream? She is stabbed so brutally?”, he asked again. Kaki replied, “I do remember now. I came back and was sleeping, but about an hour later, around 12, I heard a pale scream. But it was raining so heavily, the noises of frequent thunder had consumed all other noises last night. I was not very sure what I was hearing, but certainly I heard a female voice scream last night”. To add to this detail, another one of Suvarna’s neighbors recalled the same, “Yes! I too heard a scream at about the same time, but we all were fast asleep. I just thought I had a bad dream and did not think much about it”.

One more detail came up from the ladies, Suvarna had spoken about someone peeping through her bedroom window at night a month ago. She called out to the person, but the figure had run away.

After 3 long hours, Deepak managed to arrive back home in extreme grief. He was not sure how to react. He cried out Suvarna’s name loudly and nearly collapsed on the floor from grief. The police were now waiting to take him to their thana and ask him the most painful questions. “Deepak where were you last night, when all this happened?”, he was asked. He slowly narrated his situation and said that they he had spoken to Suvarna on the phone last night. He could not control his tears, but the police were growing suspicious of him. “Were you really at the factory? Did Suvarna really talk to you? Or did you come back home last night secretly to kill her? Maybe you hired someone to kill her and deliberately stayed away from the house last night”. The more Deepak denied all these allegations, the more police pushed him to blurt out something. “Did she have an affair with someone? People around say she was quite sexy” or “Did you see her with some man and killed her in rage?”; such pointless sentences killed Deepak from within. He wanted to smash the officer’s face, but he was pulled back by Lokesh and Anand. Lokesh calmed him down and spoke to the officer, “Sir, please ask me whatever you need to know. Don’t harass the young man. He’s very troubled”.

Deepak also claimed to have loved Suvarna a lot. He said, “Ours was a short but very happy marriage. She was a girl with a golden heart and we liked each other a lot. I think you need to focus on finding her murderer quickly, instead of wasting your time on interrogating me. You are likely giving him a chance to run away from the town or destroy the evidence. Please Sir, I request you. Have faith in me and find Suvarna’s real killer”.

The officer then did a brief check of Deepak’s whereabouts. He had a strong alibi to confirm his presence in the factory quarters all night; his colleagues testified for him.

The officer then turned to the voluntary guardsmen. The houses are near the mountains, any thief could have broken in and looted her, everyone thought. But as Mhatre Kaki said, her gold mangalsutra was not stolen, her earrings were intact, it eliminated the possibility of theft as a motive. Deepak also confirmed that none of the items in the house had moved or seemed to be stolen. The officer then asked the men, “Why isn’t there any security guard in your colony of row houses?”. To this, the group replied, “our colony is very safe. We have had minor incidents of theft here, but nothing as serious as this!”. Lokesh said, “I have some training in security, and I formed this group of voluntary guardsmen. We do our shifts regularly, without any fees. We do it as a community service, Sir”. The others agreed. Suresh said that he was ill for the last few days and thus there wasn’t anyone to guard the premise.

“How irresponsible!”, the officer exclaimed. But Lokesh tried to back up his friend and said, “Sir, either of us is always vigilant enough to know what’s going on around. But yesterday, due to the heavy rains, none of us stepped out. Who saw this coming, Sir!”.

About sixty neighbours were questioned and their statements were recorded. Suvarna’s body was sent for an autopsy, but the reports were going to take months to arrive. By the time, the police interrogated all the petty criminals and thieves around the town, but lacked to get any strong lead.

Deepak sorrowfully performed Suvarna’s last rites three days later, on 20th. Her family and in-laws also showed up on prompt notice. Everyone, including the neighbourhood attended the funeral with teary eyes. It was sad to see a young girl die like this. Deepak was so traumatized by all this; he went to his village for a few weeks, then returned to his job, but chose to stay in the factory quarters. He said he would never be able to enter that house again, where he spent such happy moments with his beautiful beloved wife Suvarna.

Deepak was never removed from the list of suspects on this case, but with no further clues, the case went cold.

More than three months had passed, and the festival of Diwali arrived. To rejuvenate the sad spirit of the neighbourhood, some enthusiastic members planned to organize a small party outdoors. The food was prepared by all the ladies, and they were serving it in plates to everyone. Lokesh was passing the plates down to the men’s sitting area. There was joy and cheer around, but as Deepak was not there anymore, many groups of people were still talking about the murder. One of the invitees was constable Malati, a distant neighbor. She was standing at the women’s serving counters and talking to everyone casually. A twelve-year-old girl Rinku was asked to handover filled plates to the men. “Go, give this plate to Lokesh uncle”, Rinku’s mother said to her. Rinku murmured, “I won’t go, Lokesh uncle touches my hand each time I give him a plate”. Rinku’s busy mother ignored what she said, but Malati was cautious enough to turn around by what she just heard. A cop’s instinct prompted her to watch from a distance what Rinku had just said. Lokesh indeed touched Rinku’s arm as he took the plate from her hand, which was completely unnecessary. Malati did not come to any conclusion, but the next day, she discussed it with Rane.

Senior Crime Investigating Officer Ashish Rane had been deployed recently to work on Suvarna’s case, as the incompetence of the local police to handle a brutal murder had become evident over the last three months. Rane had moved to the town from Pune city and had a vast experience of working on and cracking such cases open. He had studied all the witness statements, alibis, crime scene photos and even personal history of most of the people in the neighbourhood closely and had been looking for some new angle which would help them bring justice to Suvarna.

“What are you saying, Malati! Lokesh Phalke is a very respected man in the town and the neighbours like him a lot”, Rane said.

“Sir, I am not implying that the way he touched Rinku had anything to do with the murder, but I did not find his behavior right. And as a vigilant constable, I thought it was my duty to inform you about any bit or piece which comes our way”, Malati spoke in a strong voice.

Rane commended her, “Thank you Malati. This is some useful information. I will look into it”.

Two days later, Lokesh was called to the thana casually. Rane offered him some tea and voiced concern about the killer on loose, “Its four months, Phalke. There must be some clue. Do you not have any idea about it? People talk around the town, please try to find out something”.

Lokesh replied, “Sir, if it was in my capacity, I would have dragged the killer to your thana today. But what can I do?”.

Rane thought it was best to not bring up Rinku’s topic and lose Lokesh’s trust for the moment.

Lokesh was called again after two days to the thana. This time Rane had some plans. He directly asked Lokesh if he knew who the killer was. Lokesh replied negatively.

Rane came close to Lokesh and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Phalke, we have something which links to the killer. We found it near Suvarna’s body. It was sent for testing and now the results are here…..”

Before Rane could speak further, Lokesh abruptly said, “What? What? What is it? Tell me?”

“Relax Phalke! I will tell you everything. But for now, I need to know what you know. Do you know something?”, Rane questioned, “Have you heard anyone say something which you must tell us? Are you trying to protect someone? Think! And let me know this first”.

“I know nothing, Sir; but I need to know what you have found out”, Lokesh insisted in a state of panic.

“Whatever it is, has been placed back again in Suvarna’s house, at the same spot. We are trying to trap the killer with it. Anyway, we will call you again if required. Thanks for your help!”, Rane had tricked Lokesh and his panic on hearing about the evidence was all that Rane wanted to see. He had worked on many crimes before, and he was quite a master with subtle interrogation. He was not new to the panic which he just saw on Lokesh’s face. He knew he had got his man. But doubts were not enough. For the next two days, undercover cops were hiding outside Suvarna’s house, keeping a check on all the passersby. They noticed Lokesh fanatically staring at the house, trying to come closer to the gate, trying to peep in from windows. When asked by some ladies walking by, he simply replied he was keeping a watch on the house, as his duty. But his demeanor was far more than suspicious.

About a week later, Lokesh was called by Rane again.

“Phalke, we know who the killer is”, he was told by Rane, “and we want you to tell us his name, right here, today”. Lokesh kept repeating his statements of denial.

Finally, Rane said, “Can you say this as you take a lie-detector test?”, which Lokesh vehemently denied.

“What are you trying to do? You want me to confess to something which I have not done? Oh, I see, you do not have any other person to blame, so you are charging me with all this. I have been so helpful to the police since the day of the murder, and this is what I get in return? I am out of here and do not expect me to come here to answers your silly questions anymore”.

Rane’s doubts were being solidified day after day. However, he and his team were not just tricking Lokesh into confessing, they had been on their path to gather some solid clues regarding Lokesh in the meanwhile.

“Can I leave now?”, Lokesh asked adamantly to which Rane calmly replied, “Yes Please!”.

But Lokesh, as worried as he was, continued to grumble loudly as he walked out, “To hell with that bitch Suvarna. I have nothing to do with her. Do you guys even know how she lured men into her house when her husband wasn’t home. You blame me for that loose-character woman’s death…….”

His words left a further impact on Rane. “So much hatred for the dead!”, he thought to himself.

As Lokesh came back to the colony, he quickly summoned everyone in the garden, “Beware!”, he said to all like a guardian, like a leader, “the police are after us now. They were trying to frame me in the murder. Tomorrow they might come after you people. We have been living in this community together for years, and suddenly this couple came and disrupted the peace of our quiet and safe neighbourhood. We all must join hands against this”. All the neighbours showed support towards Lokesh, “Phalke Saheb, we agree with you”, they all shouted.

The next day, the unthinkable happened. It came as a shock for the entire community- Lokesh was officially marked as a prime suspect in the Suvarna murder case. The police, headed by Officer Rane dragged Lokesh out of the house and took him to the thana. All the people protested around the police jeep, but the police defended themselves well. Lokesh was defending himself and degrading the incompetency of the police to find the real killer. Once they reached the thana, Lokesh was locked up in a cell. All the neighbours had jammed the thana’s entrance shouting slogans and throwing pebbles at the thana. They all demanded Lokesh’s release. After some time, his interrogation started, “Lokesh Phalke, this is your last chance to speak the truth; after this, you will regret your lies”.

Lokesh still declared his innocence with pride.

Rane then spilled the beans, “Phalke, there were bloodied footprints in Suvarna’s hall leading to the garden outside. Due to the incessant rain, the trace was lost beyond the doorsteps, but we had captured the measurements and photographs of the footprints on 17th July itself. Had we matched those with yours before, we could have been far ahead in the case. But ‘as good as a man’ you are, no one ever suspected you. But now, we have been tracing you since last week. You walk barefoot in the garden and your footprints are all over the muddy lawns. Our team has compared your measurements to the one we found in Suvarna’s hall. They are a perfect match! So now, you dare deny that you were in her house that night. I will break your bones after this point”.

After this big reveal, Rane was sure Lokesh would admit something, but he continued to deny everything. Rane was tired now and ordered his subordinate to beat up Lokesh. And suddenly, after 5 minutes of bashing, the unexpected happened. Lokesh admitted to something.

“Please stop! Stop! I will tell you the truth. I have not killed Suvarna; I swear. But that night, I had been to her house. Her main door was open. As my duty, I stepped inside to tell them to close it. As I entered the house, towards the end of the hall, on the path leading to the kitchen, I saw Suvarna lying on the floor, covered with blood. I was far away from her, but her blood was flowing towards me, and it soaked my feet. Looking at the blood, I trembled and ran out in fear, straight back to my house. Believe me! That’s how I got my footprints on the floor”.

Rane spoke again, this time relatively calm than before, “Okay Phalke, so why didn’t you call the police right then?”

“I was afraid, sir. I thought you might lay your doubts on me, and that’s what has happened now!”, Lokesh said almost crying.

Rane enquired again, “Tell me Phalke! How far were you from Suvarna’s body and what things did you see? Please be calm and try to recall every detail. Try to help us out”.

“I was almost near the main door; I did not enter the house much. Ya, but apart from blood, I remember her throat was slit, so I got to know that she was dead already. So, I panicked and ran”.

Rane stared right into the eyes of Lokesh. With a weird smile, “he simply said ‘Okay’ and stopped the interrogation.

Lokesh, believing that he had spoken everything, was hoping to leave, but this was just the beginning.

Rane confidently prepared the charge sheet against Lokesh that night. Lokesh was held up in the lockup. The crowd had dispersed now, but there was a new wave of gossip everywhere, “What has the police found against Phalke? Is he really the killer?”. Some said, “we never liked him much, always found him suspicious, peeping through people’s windows under the pretext of guarding”. Some women said, “I have noticed him staring at my breast a few times, but never spoke about it openly”. In spite of all this, about majority of the colony’s population proclaimed him innocence, mostly married men. They believed in Lokesh and said that ‘being falsely accused for such a heinous crime is worse than what happened to Suvarna’.

However, the news was all over. It had become the headlines of the local newspapers for months. Lokesh’s security agency, where he worked, also stepped up to claim his innocence. His children faced it difficult to survive in the neighbourhood. Sometimes they used to get bullied by other children.

After 3 months of being in custody, and no bail being granted to him, Lokesh faced his trial. The entire community had finally come together to raise some donation to hire a defense lawyer for Lokesh. The lawyer also believed in his innocence and had agreed to charge less fee for the case. The various witnesses testified of what they knew, including constable Malati and little Rinku. The defense presented some witnesses who testified about Suvarna’s indecent attitude towards men. Lokesh still stood his ground, that he had seen Suvarna’s body and ran away. Rane and a forensic doctor were called for their statements.

Rane mentioned some surprising details, which came as a shock to everyone. He said, “Phalke was casually asked the specifics about Suvarna’s dead body. What was the position of her hands, legs, clothes; and he answered all of them correctly. If he claims to have been in the house for not more than 5 seconds, how does he know all this? Above all, we had never revealed the forensic report to anyone, which said that Suvarna’s throat had been cut. Considering the distance between Lokesh and the body, the amount of blood that was all over her neck region and the way her saree was misplaced, it is impossible for Lokesh to know about the slit throat. He was definitely closer to Suvarna that night than he claims. Even the forensic doctor had noticed the cut on her throat after cleaning out a lot of thick blood during autopsy. Our overall investigation says – ‘Suvarna rushed to meet Mrs. Mhatre, leaving the main door open. Phalke was roaming around Suvarna’s house as usual. He saw both go to Mr. Patil’s house and he quickly sneaked through Suvarna’s open door. He hid there for a while. As Suvarna returned, he must have heard the women say about Deepak’s absence for the night and looked at it as a perfect opportunity to do his evil deed. Suvarna came in and bolted the door from inside. As Suvarna’s scream was heard at around 12 at night, we assume Phalke spent one hour hiding in the house, secretly looking at Suvarna and all her movements. But as she encountered him, she shouted. He pounced on her, threatened her with his knife, beat her to immobilize her, then raped and cut her throat around 12:40am. As she bled to death, Phalke ran out, leaving his footprints on the floor.

Suvarna was a decent, good-charactered woman; except from Phalke, we did not hear about her luring or seducing men in the neighbourhood, but she fell prey to such a dangerous predator.

But sadly, I also admit that the local police who arrived on site were not fast enough to seal the crime scene before. Many neighbours had been touching the main door before the police arrived, just to take a glance of the bloodied body, thus tampering with any original fingerprints that we could have found on the main door. Also, we do have some samples from Suvarna’s body, but the forensic team have not been able to map those to any culprit. We are quite weak in this technology as of now. Moreover, the initial 3-4 days that the police wasted, suspecting only Deepak, has certainly given the criminal sufficient time to dispose of all other evidence, including the murder weapon, which was never found, his clothes, or any other clues linking to him.

But all my investigation points towards this one man”, Rane pointed his finger straight at Lokesh.

As Rane ended his statement, public hooted towards him to find the real culprit, calling him biased, bribed officer and so on. Rane stepped aside with dignity, knowing that he had done his part well.

The entire trial took nearly 8 months. Lokesh was in jail throughout as an ‘undertrial’. He lived in prison for nearly a year. And then the judgment day had come!

The day when Lokesh’s fate would be decided. After many trials, Deepak and Suvarna’s family also attended the session. Deepak had faith in the justice system, but the judge acquitted Lokesh Phalke of all charges against him. It was decided that the evidence and arguments were not sufficient enough to penalize Lokesh. The verdict was ‘Not Guilty’. There was clapping and cheering in the court. Community members who had been waiting outside were equally happy. They distributed sweets and brought Lokesh home with dignity. He even gave a small speech of thankfulness right outside the court to all those who supported and loved him.

Suvarna’s case thus remained unsolved.

 ******************

It has been 35 years. Suvarna’s house is still vacant. The owner couldn’t sell it. The rumors and the gossip faded, but everyone still remembers that incident. Stories are passed on to the new members of the colony. No one knows the truth, but everyone has their own version to describe what happened that night and in the months later.

I too have my version of the story. Being questioned multiple times by the police, media, and neighbours, I have always maintained Lokesh’s innocence.

I, Mrs. Radha Lokesh Phalke, Lokesh’s wife and the mother of his three children who were very small in 1988. And my version of the story goes like this -

That night Lokesh returned at about 12:50. I had woken up due to his long absence and was waiting for him in the hall.

He had blood on his feet, but not only on his feet, he had massive blood sputter on his white shirt, his hands, and face, and above all, he had a bloodied hacksaw in his hand which belonged to our garage. He asked me to shut my mouth and took me to the bathroom, where he started cleaning himself.

He was hyper, breathing heavily and then he told me the worst things I’ve heard in my life! He had left the house after dinner to roam about as Suresh’s substitute and also to peep into Suvarna’s house, trying to catch her glimpses, which had been his routine for the last 2 months, ever since she had moved in. The rain wasn’t heavy then.

He had overheard about Deepak’s absence as he saw Suvarna leave the door open and walk away with Mhatre Kaki. It was his perfect opportunity to come closer to her. He picked up his hacksaw to threaten her and sneaked into her hall, hiding behind the sofa. He got to know that Deepak wasn’t coming home at night and as the women returned, Suvarna came in and locked the door from inside.

He admitted having raped and killed Suvarna, but he was not sorry for it. He just wanted to do it, he said. “She killed me every day with her hot looks and seductive body. I just wanted her, and then I just wanted her to keep quiet.

And that’s what I want from you”, he spoke pointing the knife towards me. With blood all over him, he looked like a thirsty devil. I never knew my husband was capable of doing such a thing, and he had the guts to threaten me as well.

He made me swear on the religious book which I read every day that never in my life, I would reveal his secret to anyone. He asked me to think about our children first, who were peacefully sleeping upstairs; how all this would ruin their lives, their futures! He asked me to think about the financial support he brings to our family and how I would suffer without him. “See what happens to a woman when her husband is not home for one night. Is this the fate you want when I go to jail?” he asked me. I was stunned by his thoughts for his own wife. I was too shocked to speak anything until days after the murder. I even helped him tear and burn his clothes and clean the hacksaw. I convinced the neighbors from time to time about his innocence. I repeatedly lied that I was asleep the whole night and knew nothing at all.

Poor Suvarna accepted her fate, and I accepted mine.

I kept quiet! I kept quiet forever!

What am I? An accomplice to Lokesh’s crime or just a Helpless wife?