“What about proof?” Shinde asked.
“When you checked the bottle for prints, you found Vidya’s fingerprints on it, didn’t you?” Sonia replied.
“Actually, we did, but since Vidya usually gave her Mother- in-law the dose… Perhaps what you say may hold some truth.”
The policeman shook his head in amazement.
“The Sahays will go scot-free,” Renuka pointed out gloomily.
“Not exactly,” Sonia added with a half smile. “I said Mrs Sahay cannot be arrested for murder, but she can be charged for provoking suicide! Isn’t the fact of the death of a woman, within seven years of her married life, under suspicious conditions reason enough for a good lawyer to make a case? Besides, we cannot ignore the cause of the suicide. Harassment. Vidya was frustrated and fed up with the harassment and she killed herself to escape the constant dowry demands. Is that not reason enough for arresting Mrs Sahay? Section 498-A? Section 498- A in the Indian Penal Code covers harassment - physical and mental torture, emotional torture through verbal abuse. Surely that could drive a woman to commit suicide. Under the law, if it is shown that soon before her death a woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband, or any relative of her husband, in connection with any demand for dowry, the persons are held responsible for this dowry death.”
Shinde looked at Sonia and smiled. “You’re quite amazing!”
Jatin glanced at his Boss in admiration. Didn’t he already know that?
But anger flashed in Renuka’s eyes. “But Mrs Sahay will be held for harassment, not a dowry death, thanks to you, Sonia. Why did you do this! Why did you spoil her plan?”
Sonia reserved a dignified silence, allowing the girl to vent her feelings.
“God knows they deserved the punishment! Now, because of you, Parmeet is a free bird - ”
“Vidya did not wish to involve Parmeet in this whole ugly business,” Sonia had to cut in. “Her diary is explicit proof of her devotion to her husband.”
“My friend was a fool! Parmeet is as much to be blamed as his parents.”
“Not in Vidya’s opinion.”
“And Mrs Sahay will escape with a mere rap on the knuckles. Considering what they did to her, that’s what a few years in jail will amount to!”
Sonia pursed her lips. “I understand your feelings, Renuka. But nobody murdered Vidya. She was harassed and the harasser will be punished appropriately. But to deliberately plan a suicide and make it appear like your own murder and have someone else accused for it? You may be shocked at the negative implications it will provoke. It will totally tarnish Vidya’s image and even erase most of the sympathy people felt for her. Some may admire her courage, some may even applaud her daring. But I fear Vidya’s plan has complicated matters so much that you cannot ignore the possibility of even Mrs Sahay going scot-free! What your friend did was unethical.”
“Unethical! How can you stand there and talk about principles when my friend is dead because of these fiends! Don’t talk to me about moral values and understanding.” Renuka hissed. “I wanted these scoundrels to be hanged for what they did to Vidya, and now thanks to you they will proudly strut around in society and find another money-sprouting scapegoat.” She glared at Sonia, then slammed out of the room.
Sonia stared unhappily at her receding back. Consternation was stamped on Jatin’s face, as Inspector Shinde glanced at the detective sympathetically.
Mohnish stood silently by the inner office door, observing Sonia with a frown. She was leaning against her chair, her eyes closed in deep contemplation. She was still, like a statue. And even Nidhi’s antics did not seem to disturb her.
Nidhi was chasing a crumpled white piece of paper round the room, which had spilled out of the upturned plastic dustbin. The dustbin rolled and immediately the cat’s attention was riveted to it. Taking aim, she pounced and slid off it with a crash!
Sonia straightened, opening her eyes.
“Hello! You startled me!” Sonia gasped when she saw Mohnish.
“That’s because you’re not in your element,” Mohnish responded, entering the Office.
“When did you arrive?”
“A couple of minutes ago. I didn’t wish to disturb your meditation.”
“Meditation… I wish I was good enough in meditation to blank out all thought from my mind.”
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his tone quiet.
Sonia sighed. “If only I could word the confusion in my mind. Right now, it is a ball of jumbled emotions. Right pitched against wrong, affliction and suffering fighting to surface over justice. Is justice a mere definition on paper?”
Mohnish looked at her with compassion in his deep brown eyes. “You are upset over Renuka’s reaction. Jatin told me all about it. You did the right thing, Sonia. You cannot let emotions override the truth.”
“I know. But Renuka has a point, too. I wonder. if I should never have interfered. I feel as if, in some intrinsic way, I am failing Vidya - failing all those wretched women who are victims of dowry. Perhaps it would’ve been better - more in favour of the ultimate justice - if Vidya’s plot had remained a secret?”
“You wouldn’t have been at peace,” Mohnish stated calmly.
“I’m not at peace, even now. I feel as if someone has punched a hole in my confidence. When I think about Vidya’s past, I realise that none of these events needed to occur. Vidya’s in laws needn’t have harassed her. Vidya needn’t have died. She tried to teach them a lesson, which now they will never learn. And instead, here I am, being coached by circumstances that justice works at several ends!”
“Sonia, the best thing to do is Focus on what is right, not who is right or who should be right,” Mohnish said firmly.
Sonia stared at him a long moment, his words defusing the tension like a bomb. Sudden respect replaced the bewildered expression
