Mystery

A wedding took place in the morning in that house, and they were preparing for sending off the bride to her new home with her husband. The mood in the entire house was that of melancholy and the atmosphere was heavy, charged with emotions.

Mother was setting aside the stuff to be given to the daughter when she left to her husband’s home. The newly married couple were in their room till then, when the groom came out to attend a phone call from his friend. He walked out aimlessly, as he was talking over his mobile. The bride was feeling suffocated being in her room all the afternoon. She just went over to terrace to catch some fresh air. She had a feeling of excitement as she was about to go to her husband’s home for the first time, as well as sadness as she would be leaving the warmth of her parents' home, forever. will not be at ease till she settles down comfortably in her new home.

 Suddenly there was a sound of “thud”, noise of something heavy falling down on the ground and a loud shriek from a female voice. To every body’s shock, right in front of the house, the bride was found in a pool of blood, instantaneously dead. The parapet wall had partially given way, as the body fell down. What ensued was a frenzy of activity and it was like hell broke loose. The members of family were crying inconsolably while the poor groom was shocked and sad. He was also worried about the implications for him. Already everybody started to give him suspicious looks. A chill ran through his spine.

The police arrived.” Please do not touch or disturb anything. Nobody can get in or move out of the house till we tell you” One team started to collect information from the family members and second team started collecting clues and evidence from the scene. Meanwhile the rumor mill was working overtime. Already a rumor that the bride committed suicide as she was married against her wish, started making rounds.

 Police took statement of everyone related closely to the dead Bride and in their assessment, they did not find any motive for them to have killed the bride. The Groom had no reason to kill his newly wed wife and he was nowhere near her when she fell off the terrace. Several witnesses were there as he was talking over phone at the time of accident. Parents had no motive. Already people were talking that the wedding took place against bride’s wishes as she had an affair earlier. But there was alibi for parents and also reasons to believe that the wedding was not forceful. There was no proof that anyone pushed the bride to death. Suicide was the only possibility that could not be ruled out. But it was unbelievable to the entire family, that she would resort to suicide for no reason. On the contrary, there were few domestic workers who saw exactly what had happened. Hemanth, one of them, told police,” Sir, I had seen Didi leaning on the parapet wall and waving to her husband to attract his attention and he was busy talking over the mobile. She had put her weight on it and bending and looking down when, all of a sudden this happened.” 

Though the death of a bride soon after the wedding appeared mysterious, it appeared to be freak accident at the face of it and the police decided to continue the investigations further and find out the reason for death. For now, they allowed the bride’s family to proceed with her last rites.

The key to the entire mystery lay in the hands of Ramu Kaka. Though he was not directly responsible, he felt he was morally responsible for the incidence. The portion of parapet wall, from where the bride fell, had weakened considerably, with a vertical crack, more over it was a light Jaali work. The building was pretty old. He had notice it while the painting work was being carried out for the wedding, but he had neglected to report to the master. His negligence could be a reason for the fatal under the accident. He had no courage to reveal this to anyone and was burdened by the feeling of guilt. He left to his village under some pretext. He died after six months unable to come to terms with the truth.

The police closed the case reluctantly, as a freak accident. In spite of their best efforts, it remained an unsolved mystery for the police.