chapter 45


    Arjun''s POV:


    Finally, the day of the court hearing arrived. Daksha couldn''t rest peacefully because of the hearing.


    She had been pretty nervous about the oue because she already experienced failure once and


    lost a precious person in her life.


    I couldn''t do anything except for assuring her that nothing would go wrong.


    I was in the court along with Indra to discuss thest-minute details. Daksha, along with mom,


    Grandpa, and her whole family entered the court as the time for the hearing was getting nearer.


    I just nodded at them and greeted them briefly before involving myself in a talk with Indra and saw that


    Aditya was guiding them inside the waiting room.


    Rahul too came and went inside along with hiswyer after ring at me and I smirked at him slightly.


    Well, anyone in his ce would get angry because he lost his family''s support to use their influence to


    get out of this pit and even hispany was also in huge shackles. It was like he was ying the


    game even when he knew he was going to lose.


    Indra and I went inside too. Soon, the entry of the judge was announced and after all the initial


    formalities, the official trial began.


    "Prosecutor, you may make the opening statements," I immediately bowed my head at him in


    greetings.


    "Your honor, the defendant, Mr.Rahul, is used of killing my client''s acquaintance Swathi and her


    own sister-inw, Tejaswi. In addition to those usations, I have some proof to support the ims of


    him being involved in child and women trafficking. So, let me start with Ms. Swathi''s case first," I


    exined and saw that the judge nodded at me before asking the defendantwyer to make his


    opening statements. After he was done, I started telling my ims.


    "Ms. Swathi used to work as a maid in Mr.Rahul''s house. One fine day, when there was no one at


    home, Mr. Rahul forced himself on her and raped her brutally. He even threatened her to not say


    anything about this matter to anyone but Ms. Swathi informed her parents with the hope that they might


    support her. Instead of supporting her, they shunned her into silence. Later, Ms. Swathi found herself


    pregnant and when he came to know about it, he forcefully took her to the hospital to abort the baby


    where my client Daksha was working as a doctor. At the hospital, Mr. Rahul was involved in an


    argument with my client and her friend. It''s better if we hear everything from my client itself," I briefly


    suggested. When the judge gave his approval, Daksha was escorted to the podium. She came and


    stood there nervously. When I smiled at her discreetly in an assuring manner, she nodded at me before


    starting to narrate the happenings.


    "Everything that the prosecutor has said is correct. That day, I went to my friend''s department to meet


    her but I got to witness him arguing with my friend. From their words, I got to know that he was forcing


    Swathi to abort the baby against her will. When he was about to p my friend, I stopped him and


    pped him. He left from there angrily after warning us. After he left, Swathi told us everything about


    his deeds. When I encouraged her to file aint against him, she did it in the hopes of getting


    justice. When we thought that he was going to get punished, unexpectedly the case got closed and we


    were used of defaming his character. After a few days, I found out the death news of Swathi. She


    hung herself in her house but I truly believe that she is not a weak person to kill herself. So, it has to be


    a murder," dhe said everything in one go.


    "Objection, your honor," the defensewyer shouted.


    "Objection sustained."


    "Thanks, your honor. How can you be sure that my client had forced himself on Ms. Swathi? The deed


    must be done with her consent too. She must be a willing party too. Let me tell you this, Ms. Swathi


    was the one who pestered my client to have a rtionship with her. Later when she got pregnant, she


    used her baby to ckmail my client to marry her, or otherwise she would go to the media and would


    tell the whole world that he raped her. So, he forced her to abort the baby to save his reputation.


    Seeing that he was not agreeing to the marriage, she decided to file a case against him in order to at


    least loot some amount from him but all her ns failed when my client’s innocence was proven. After


    the case was over, her familypletely outcast her for making them face humiliation. So, she killed


    herself as she didn''t have any option. So, your honor, all the baseless usations they made on my


    client are false. He is innocent," he said in a humble tone and I resisted the urge to scoff at his face.


    "So, do you have any proof to show that your client is innocent?" I asked the defensewyer and he


    just smirked at me.


    "Well, I don''t have any proof and so do you. Sir, the court needs valid proof and not some baseless


    usations. If you don''t have one, then don''t use my client erroneously," he said cockily.


    "Who said that I don''t have any proof?" I shot back at him with a smirk and upon hearing my words, his


    previous arrogance faded away from his face. He immediately exchanged a look with Rahul who was


    already looking at me with a confused face.


    "Your honor, I do have some proof to show that Ms. Swathi was murdered and the murderer was Mr.


    Rahul." Saying this, I handed over the evidence to the court.


    The evidence was nothing but Swathi''s handwritten diary, autopsy report, and Rahul''s cufflink of his


    suit.


    Seeing the diary, their faces morphed into a frown, unable to fathom how they missed this silly point.


    "Your honor, I doubt the authenticity of the proof. Ms. Swathi was a maid who didn''t even get primary


    education. So, I seriously doubt that she knew how to write and as for the cufflink, it is a counterfeit


    they prepared to use my client," he came to the defense of Rahul.


    "Your honor, I think the defensewyer doesn''t know the meaning of a literate person. A person can be


    literate without even having proper education and moreover, thenguage she used here is not any


    foreignnguage but her mother tongue. You can check the genuineness. She mentioned everything in


    her diary. From how he forced himself on her and how she spent her nights with the nightmares. She


    seriously fell into depression. You can see the medical reports of Ms. Swathi.


    "She suffered from clinical depression but she recovered from it pretty soon and if you see the reason


    as to why she suffered from it, you will know who was the reason behind her miseries. Even before


    dying, she wrote how she was receiving threat messages from Mr. Rahul but she mentioned clearly


    that she wouldn''t be a coward from now on and would fight everything for her baby. So considering her


    mental health, is there any possibility for her to kill herself? I agree she suffered from depression and


    having suicidal tendencies is prettymon in such patients but she recovered from it soon itself and


    proved that she was a fighter." When the defensewyer was about to refute my words, I interrupted


    him.


    "Let meplete what I want to say. As for the cufflink, I can say that it surely belongs to Mr. Rahul. It


    is a customized one from a famouspany in Italy. They prepare things as per the requirements of


    their customers and are known for their morality. They never ept bribes to do illegal things. The


    thing is, they did make another cufflink but only upon the request of Mr. Rahul. When he realized that


    he lost his cufflink, he ced an order for them to make the same cufflink that matches the other one. If


    you look at the counterfeit bill of that order, surprisingly it is the same date where Ms. Swathi was found


    dead and her family found this cufflink beside her dead body. As for the autopsy, the reports clearly


    said Ms. Swathi struggled to save her life and there were nail marks, fingerprints on her face and body.


    I suspect that he again raped her," I told in a high pitched tone.


    "No. You are wrong. I didn''t rape her. I just killed-" Rahul eximed but stopped immediately after


    realizing what he was saying but anyone could guess that he blurted out the truth in anxiety. Thest


    usation that I made was false but I did it to rile him up in hopes that he would tell the truth and he


    did, but notpletely.


    "Objection, your honor. the prosecutor is misleading the case and he is using my client''s emotional


    imbnce as a tool and forcing him to agree with his ims."


    "Objection overruled." The judge refused angrily and I just passed a sly smile at him to which he red


    at me angrily.


    "Court is verifying the authenticity of the ims and we hope that the doctor who treated Ms. Swathi


    will cooperate with the investigation. Meanwhile, Mr. Prosecutor, you can carry on with your other


    ims," he said and I just nodded at him before submitting every proof against him.


    "There is nothing to argue, Sir. The proofs that I have submitted will tell you everything. Mr. Rahul


    attacked my client Daksha as a revenge to get even with her. He harassed her sexually and


    intentionally pushed her sister-inw from the stairs who tried to save Ms. Daksha which led to the


    miscarriage and the death of Ms. Tejaswi. He was even involved in the trafficking of children and


    women. There is a testimony of his second inmand. He is currently under the custody of ACP


    Indratan," I said while balling my fists tightly.


    Hearing my words, the judge nced at Daksha who had a forlorn expression on her face and asked


    her.


    "Is it true, Ms. Daksha?" he asked her and she just nodded at him before bending her down.


    I could clearly see the tears that were flowing from her eyes like broken pearls, creating a throb in my


    heart. I just wanted to pull her in my arms and wanted to protect her from everything. Her broken voice


    snapped me out of my thoughts.


    "He pushed her in front of me and I just stood there helplessly, not knowing what to do. She rolled


    down from the stairs right in front of my eyes. How I wished to be in her ce! She was pregnant and


    even before she could tell her family, she lost her baby and even her life too. What did she do to


    receive such a fate when she waspletely innocent? What was the mistake of Swathi to get killed at


    his hands? She fought for herself and for her baby, yet she lost in that battle when the culprit is still


    roaming so freely without any care in this world," she shouted while sobbing.


    "I once believed that thew would punish the criminal but it failed us. It failed the victim. I was so


    disappointed that I lost my belief inw, justice, and everything. Everyone says that justice is fair but


    no. It is not. Don''t fool the citizens. It was never fair and will never be. I really don''t know what will be


    your decision against him but I beg you to be fair. Consider every evidence seriously. I beg you. I want


    justice for Swathi, for Teju, for an innocent unborn baby, and for all the victims of his brutality. I beg you.


    Please don''t make us lose faith in thew again and please don''t prove us right again. It is so painful to


    go through the same deceit again and again." She said while folding her hands in front of the judge.


    I shifted my gaze away from her as I wasn''t able to see her vulnerability.


    "I don''t know what happened in the past. I can understand your emotional turmoil but beforeing to


    any decision, I have to give a fair chance to both parties and have to verify every evidence clearly but I


    can assure you, Ms. Daksha, I won''t y sides and the jury will consider everything fairly," he assured


    her and she just nodded her head.


    "Court is dismissed for half an hour." Saying this, he stood up to leave the courtroom with the bailiff


    carrying the evidences behind him


    Immediately after the break was announced, Daksha rushed to me and hugged me so tightly while


    whimpering in my embrace. I held her tightly in my arms and consoled her.


    "Will he get the punishment that he deserves? I am afraid that he will fool every one of us again. I


    shouldn''t have cried in front of everyone, right.? I am a fool who doesn''t have control over her own


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    emotions," she said in between her sobbing session and I just let out a chuckle before holding her face


    with my arms while dabbing her tears away.


    "Silly girl. You did a good job. If his punishment would have been in my hands, he would have been 6


    feet under the earth by now but we can''t take thew into our hands and I am sure he will get a serious


    punishment for all his crimes," I assured her.


    "By the way, even if you are a crying mess, you are always beautiful and cute in my eyes," I said before


    hugging her again. and she immediately buried her face in my embrace, shyly. We both were in our


    own world until we heard someone clear their throat.


    I lifted my face to see that Ma and Attayya were giving us teasing looks.


    "It is a court. Have some control," Ma said with a smile on her face. Daksha immediately left my


    embrace after hearing her words, making me re at my mother after sensing the emptiness in my


    arms.


    "Now, don''t sulk here. Remember, your suave and mightywyer image," she reminded me and I just


    rolled my eyes at her.


    "You guys did a good job." Everyone praised us.


    "Well, we can''t say that till the judgment is announced," Daksha said skeptically.


    "Don''t worry. Nothing will go wrong. The judgment will be in our favor only." Grandpa assured her and


    she smiled at him brightly.


    Soon the break was over and it was time for the judgment.


    "Does the defensewyer have anything to say?" Judge asked him and he just shook his head. I


    nced at Rahul and saw that he had a defeated look on his face.


    "Well, after considering every evidence with the utmost fairness, the court finds Mr. Rahul guilty and will


    be subjected to the death penalty for all his heinous crimes under Sec. 302 of the penalw," he


    dered the judgment with the fall of the hammer.


    "The court is adjourned," he said. I smiled in victory and before I knew it, I was crushed into a hug by


    everyone.


    Adi gave me a full-blown smile with the tears in his eyes and left from there immediately. I smiled a little


    looking at his lonely back. I truly wished for him to find his happiness soon.


    My thoughts were broken down by the excited silly fellow in front of me.


    "Arjun, we did it. You did it. I am so happy. Finally, he got the punishment. God! I still can''t believe that


    this is really happening." I just wanted to kiss her then and there because she was looking so cute with


    that excited glint in her eyes. I nced at everyone and saw that all of my family members had smiles


    on their faces.


    I just took the over-excited Daksha into my arms and hugged her so tightly with a smile as I finally


    fulfilled her wish. From now on, we both can leave happily by leaving our pasts behind us.


    I lifted my head to look at Rahul who was escorted outside by Indra''s team and thought in my mind.


    "If those who break thew are allowed to escape punishment, would the world have any justice in it?


    Surely a big No."