The Unpardonable Sin

Archana Shetty was a forty-nine-year-old housewife living in Bengaluru with her husband and her daughter Lavanya. Lavanya was the tenth-grade student of The Kendriya Vidyalaya school in Malleswaram. She was a class topper in academics, and actively participated in extracurricular activities. She was an extrovert who loved interacting with friends and reading books. She inherited her jovial nature and willingness to help others from her mother. Archana's husband Eshwar was a railway employee. He was a man of few words. He had a limited circle of friends. They were a close-knit happy family.

Archana never thought that a calamity would strike her family in the form of Lavanya. It was the month of August. Lavanya's class teacher Mrs.Indira Krishnamurthy made an important announcement in the class. She addressed the students, "You will be glad to know that our school is organising a camping trip for the classes eighth to tenth. We will be going to Bannerghatta National Park on 24th August. The camp will be for three days. We will be back on Monday." The students were excited about the trip.

Lavanya came home looking happier than usual. She sought her parents'approval for the camping trip over the dinner. They committed a great mistake by allowing her to go for the trip. Little did they know that their lives would be changed forever after this journey.

Lavanya was looking forward to the trip. She kept counting days for her departure. Finally, the day arrived. She left home with her father. He gave her some advice and asked her to be careful. Her luggage consisted of a suitcase and a handbag. She boarded the bus, and it crawled at a snail's pace. Teachers and students were having a gala time by singing songs and enjoying the scenery. They reached Bannerghatta National Park and proceeded towards their campsite. Lavanya shared a tent with three other girls. Her best friend Avni was staying with her. Lavanya shared an excellent camaraderie with all the three girls.

They had a breakfast followed by a shower. The teachers and the students went for trekking with a guide leading their way. The guide explained to them about flora and fauna in the national park. They returned by lunchtime and took a short nap. They played games and wandered within their campsite. Lavanya and her friends squealed in delight when they saw a beautiful doe coming towards them. She went inside her tent to fetch a camera. Her friends were busy feeding the doe which was now friends with all of them. She clicked their pictures. They went to visit Butterfly Park. The fascinating sight of the multicoloured butterflies exhilarated them. They came back to their campsite and had dinner.

Lavanya wished her friends good night and went to sleep. She immediately fell asleep. There was an ear piercing scream at midnight. Lavanya woke up with a start, and so did her friends. Lavanya was shocked to find Avni missing from the tent. She asked her friend, Monica, "Where is Avni? Did you see her go?" Monica answered, " Don't panic, Lavanya. She must be sleepwalking." Lavanya was not convinced, but she didn't argue. They went back to sleep. Lavanya woke up early in the morning.

She saw that Avni's bed was still empty. She woke up her friends Monica and Deepika who were now scared. Lavanya went to meet her teacher Mrs.Indira Krishnamurty. She updated her about Avni's mysterious disappearance. The teacher was shocked. She called for an emergency meeting with the other teachers.

She addressed them and said, "Dear friends, I have alarming news to share with you. Lavanya Shetty, the tenth-grade student, informed me that her classmate Avni has been missing since last night. We should start searching for her immediately." No sooner did she finish speaking, than an eighth-grade boy came running towards them. He was running short of breath. One of the teachers offered him a glass of water. He said, "Rajesh sir, five of my classmates are missing since last night. I can't find them anywhere."

A male teacher called Rajesh Roy spoke a few words of encouragement to the boy. They were about to launch a search operation when they heard someone scream. All the teachers rushed to the spot where they discovered a horrible sight. Lavanya was lying unconscious behind her tent. They saw the decapitated bodies of the missing children. The teachers were petrified. Mrs.Krishnamurty notified the police. They arrived shortly and started interrogating everyone. Lavanya was still unconscious. Her class teacher sprinkled water on her to revive her. Lavanya opened her eyes and shrieked Avni's name before passing out again.

The Police Inspector Sairam Rao arranged for the post-mortem of the bodies. He expressed his sympathies to the teachers and the students. One of the teachers Mr.Rajesh Roy offered to call up the parents of the deceased children. A couple of teachers named Hemavati Rangarajan and Pushpalata Gowda offered to call other parents to take their children home. The terrified parents came within a couple of hours to take their children home. The inspector sought their permission to interview the kids. Rajesh Roy gave him the list of students sharing the same tent. The inspector called the boy who had complained about his missing classmates.

He asked him, "What is your name? In which class are you studying?" The boy replied, "My name is Aryan Hebbali. I am studying in the eighth standard." The inspector further probed him, "When did you notice that your friends were missing? Did you notice anything weird before their disappearance?" Aryan answered, "After coming back from Butterfly park, we had dinner and went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I found my friends missing. Their names are Arun Rohan Vignesh Pradeep and Kamesh. Last night I heard someone screaming. I didn't bother to wake up until this morning as I thought that I heard an an

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imal cry." "Thank you, Aryan. I appreciate your information."

He turned towards the girls to inquire about Avni. Monica said, "One of my friends Lavanya heard someone screaming. She told me about Avni missing from her bed. It must be around midnight." Another girl called Deepika came forward to share her bit of information. She said, "I heard someone playing flute just outside our tent. I was too tired to get up and investigate. Avni woke up with a jerk looking weird. I asked her to sleep, but she didn't respond. That was the last time I saw her alive." "May I speak to your friend Lavanya," asked the Inspector. Deepika replied, "I am sorry to say that she is not in a condition to talk. She is undergoing severe trauma. Let me take you to her tent where you can see her present condition." She accompanied the inspector to Lavanya's tent. The poor girl was getting delirious. Her parents were at her side with tears in their eyes.

Eshwar and Archana called out Lavanya's name. She saw her parents and continued screaming Avni's name. Archana cried out, "What happened to the apple of our eyes? Why is she not recognising us? Why is she calling out Avni's name?"

Her class teacher explained, " She was perfectly alright this morning. She told me about Avni's sudden disappearance. An eighth-grader came running towards us. He said that five of his classmates were also gone." The inspector asked her, "Have you ever been on a camping trip before? Who organised this trip?"

The teacher answered, "This is our first camping trip. We have never visited any forest or a wildlife sanctuary. Our new teacher Mr.Rajesh Roy organised this trip. He convinced our Principal Mr.Sunil Arora that our students needed to get away from the polluted air of the city."The inspector found this information quite interesting. He moved on to inspect the crime scene. There was no trace of blood where the bodies lay scattered.

The inspector was puzzled. He suddenly realised that the culprit murdered them somewhere else. He thought, " Why did the criminal leave behind the bodies in the open? He could have buried them."

He couldn't help wondering why this case was so familiar. He remembered his nephew Siddharth getting killed on a camping trip last year. The police had recovered decapitated bodies of ten children. The perpetrator of the crime got away scot free due to the lack of evidence.

He recollected that this was the place of a disastrous camping trip last year. He went to meet Rajesh. He said, "I am sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you some questions. I hope you won't mind." Rajesh smiled and replied, "Please feel free to ask anything." Rao questioned him, "How long have you been working for this school? Mrs.Krishnamurty told me that you had organized this camping trip. Have you ever organised a camping trip before?"

Rajesh said, "I joined this school very recently. I have been a teacher for ten years. I have organised camping trips for my previous school. I have never witnessed this kind of tragedy in my life. My heart goes out for the parents of the dead children."The inspector looked around his tent. He was quick enough to spot a flute lying beside his bag. The inspector thanked him and went out. He walked ahead a few steps and hid behind a tree. He took out his camera and waited for Rajesh to come out. The latter came out and spoke to someone over the phone. Rao clicked his photo and went to meet the officials at the administration section. The receptionist told him that Rajesh Roy had indeed organised the trip. When he showed him Rajesh's photo, she was shocked. She said, "You must be mistaken, sir. He is not Rajesh. His name is Sandeep Bellapalli. He organised the camping trip for Model school last year. Unfortunately, we had witnessed more deaths last year."

The inspector thanked her. He remembered Deepika saying that she heard someone playing the flute. Rao believed Rajesh was not alone in this madness. He had cronies to help him. He couldn't understand the reason behind Rajesh's merciless killings. He met the principal of the Model School and asked him about Sandeep aka Rajesh. The principal confirmed the receptionist's story. He also added that Sandeep had resigned after the tragedy accepting moral responsibility. When Rao showed him Rajesh's picture, he immediately identified him as Sandeep. He realised that Rajesh might try to escape. He issued a lookout notice for Rajesh along with his photo.

The police apprehended him while he was trying to board a train with his wife and friends. They called Rao and told him about Rajesh's capture. Rao came within half an hour to the railway station. Rajesh confessed to his crimes. He said, "I have been married for ten years. However, we didn't have any children. A tantric told us that we would be blessed with a child if we sacrifice at least fifty children. I hypnotised them when they were alone and captured them. My wife Smriti and I chopped their heads with a sickle. My friends helped me to dispose of the bodies. I did not bother to bury them because I thought that the wild animals would devour them. I managed to destroy all the evidence last year."

Rao yelled at him, " You are an idiot of the worst category. Why do you call yourself a teacher? You haven't used your brain at all. Nobody resorts to tantric and black magic in this era of science and technology. You should have gone for fertility treatment instead of a tantric. Who is the bloody fool who gave you this worthless advice? All of you are going to the gallows. Shame on you." The Cops arrested all of them and led them away.

Eshwar and Archana took Lavanya to a leading psychiatrist for treatment. She finally recovered after one year of medication and counselling. Though Lavanya became normal, she chose to remain reticent. Nobody could fill the void in her heart caused by Avni's death.