Murder of The Bhatia Couple

You know sometimes I wonder that what drives a man to kill a fellow being. Our civilization has been full of incidents in history when a man has been driven to kill another man for end number of reasons and these reasons have varied in nature like jealousy, anger, revenge, greed, hatred, desire for power, in a fit of rage, or just for the pleasure of taking a life, or some sick twisted mental delusion etc., and these desires were not mortal; but in our religions and mythologies worldwide also we find such instances. The strange thing is that where man has advanced so much in the 21st century but still has not been able to conquer this emotion which destroys everything in its path will be clear in the following story.

The Bhatias (Rajeev & Sheetal) were an average old couple, well into their sixties and who had lived their life to the best of their ability and who had decided to move to Faridabad from a colony in South Delhi to spend the rest of their retired lives in harmony. Rajeev had worked in the corporate sector and his wife Sheetal had been a government bank employee. Both of them were liked by their neighbours and they were highly respected in social circles because of their maturity and intellect. The only thing which lacked in their life was a child and it was not they had not tried; they had tried everything from medical science to religious faith and worship, but alas to no avail and this they had to contend with this sad fact throughout their lives. Though they tried to make it up by immersing themselves in helping others. So when the neighbours heard about this, they were both surprised and saddened by their decision. They even protested and pleaded with them to reconsider, but both Mrs. & Mr Bhatia said that ‘they had also enrolled themselves in an ashram nearby where meditation and holistic cleansing of souls were taught to everyone’ and also ‘that we are grateful that you all have given us so much love and support, but we have spent nearly all our lifetime fortune for this endeavour and we would like to do this with all your encouragement and goodwill’. At last, the neighbours had to bow down to the couple’s wishes and bade them goodbye with sadness in their eyes and good wishes in their hearts.

The apartment that the Bhatias had bought in Faridabad, Haryana was under a government scheme and it was not yet fully inhabited; that is very few families had moved on different floors. The Bhatias’s apartment was on the 8th floor and it was the only apartment in the entire floor that was occupied. The first few days went along fine and here also they were able to meet and greet their neighbours and gain their liking and respect. After the first couple of weeks everything was fine, then one day when the building guard Vijay on his regular rounds went up to the 8th floor where the Bhatias were staying, he saw that the door to their house was wide open. This made him suspicious as to why it was open, he saw Mr Bhatia lying dead in a pool of blood around his head and Mrs Bhatia strangled to death with a clothesline, her eyes wide open in terror. The whole house was strewn around with things lying here and there.

The Police were immediately called and there was huge cry and emotion amongst the next-door neighbours. The Police Inspector (Inspector Karan Sharma) investigating the case was a curious amalgamation of character; that is, on one hand, he was a very efficient, dedicated, sincere, honest cop, and on the other hand, he had a dark sense of humour also. That is why immediately when he got the call, he remarked in a rye a sense of humour that ‘zaroor bachcho ne jaydaad ke liye mara hoga’. It was only reaching the crime scene that he realized that the deceased couple (Bhatias) had no child. The immediate suspicion fell on Vijay, the guard of the building as he was the first one to discover their bodies. But as the guard provided his alibi and his supervisor and also the neighbours confirmed it; he was put off the suspect’s list. This again provoked Inspector Karan to say ‘ki kahin tunhe to buddho ko akela paake to nahi maar diya, aur sab log tujhe bachane ki koshish kar rahe hai’. Anyways, when the police started questioning the people around them found that the Bhatias were a very popular couple and were very much liked by everyone in this area also because they had moved in just a few days ago. When they started compiling a list of all those people who used to come to the Bhatia apartment, they found it was not many people except the garbage collector (Raju), the milkman (Virender), and the maid (Ratna Bai). Almost all of them had perfect alibis except Raju who kept giving glances at the door and was very nervous during police questioning. This aroused a strong suspicion in Inspector Karan but he had to let him go as he had no evidence.

Meanwhile, the case had created a sensation in the public’s hearts through the media’s reporting. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the killer to get caught. Inspector Karan had also meanwhile put his best constables (Dharma & Rajender) on Raju’s tail as to where he goes, who all he meets etc. When one day Constable Dharma gave a call to Inspector Karan and reported that Raju had met a guy near the apartment. He also said that Raju and this guy had a long conversation and both of them had continuously made hand gestures towards the building. Constable Dharma further reported that after Raju had left the guy, the guy had sneaked into the building and tried to enter the Bhatia’s apartment. When challenged by Dharma, the guy had run off at full speed from the scene.

This was like the lead that Inspector Karan was looking for as he was getting a lot of pressure from his superiors to solve the case. He immediately arrested Raju on charges of suspicion of the Bhatia’s murder. It was during interrogation that Raju finally broke and said that his brother, Sonu was the person with whom he was talking and that he was the actual killer. When asked why Raju replied that Sonu was a wild natured since childhood and he was also very violent if he did not get what he wanted. When Karan asked that why he killed the couple,

Raju said that some Sonu also went to collect garbage from the Bhatias on his behalf and the day before their murder, he had a verbal argument with Mr Bhatia. When asked why he replied that Sonu had a bad habit of drugs and it is for that he had gone to them to ask for some money. Which Mr Bhatia had vehemently refused and despite Sonu’s pleading had refused to give him money. Then Sonu had lost his temper and had started acting aggressively towards the old couple and also started abusing them very loudly. When Mr Bhatia asked the building guard and the neighbours to intervene as Sonu was creating a nuisance, he had acted provocatively towards them also. Finally, Mr Bhatia had called Raju and asked him to come and take his brother away. Raju further said that it had taken a lot of strength and verbal bantering to finally persuade Sonu to leave the premises. Sonu, on the other hand, was fuming and it was then that he had made up his mind to get rid of the old couple. Raju was shocked to hear this and tried to talk some sense into Sonu but he was adamant.

When Karan asked Raju that why did he not go to the police or tell him about Sonu on the previous occasion, Raju said that he loved his brother and was afraid that he would be taken from him. Finally, Sonu was arrested and brought in murder charges. During the interrogations, Sonu confessed that he had gone the next day to the Bhatia’s house and had rung the doorbell and hid. He also said that he made one last attempt to get some money from Mr Bhatia, but when he refused Sonu had lost his temper and started bashing Mr Bhatia’s head with a hammer which he had kept hidden in his trousers. When Mrs Bhatia came in to see after hearing the screams that her husband was being attacked, she tried to run but Sonu grabbed and strangled her.

This again prompted Karan to remark that ‘paise ke liye insaan kis had tak gir jaata hain aur kaisa shaitan ban jaata hain, yeh Sonu ko dekh kar pata chalta hain’.

At last, the case was solved and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Sonu was charged with murder and Raju was also arrested for helping and abetting his brother and concealing facts from the police.

This is why I remarked earlier that though we have made a lot of breakthroughs in science, technology, medicine etc., we have not been able to tame the dark side of the human psyche.