Murder, He Did

The Pune Rural police recently solved a 6-year-old murder case. Here’s what happened.

The dramatic personae involves three people. Let’s say, they are Arun, and one couple Mr and Mrs Raikar.

After completing his SSC from a provincial district in Maharashtra, Arun went to Surat, Gujarat, to find his future and fortune. There, he met a man in the vegetable market, who hired him to work at his house. The man was Mr Raikar. He had recently married and it was more than a coincident that Mrs Raikar also belonged to the same district from where Arun had come. They formed a instant rapport, much more than a master and servant relationship.

Now, Mr Raikar had a past of his own, and finally police caught up with him. He was tried and was found guilty in a dacoity case and was sent to prison. Before he was locked up, Mr Raikar asked Arun to look after his wife, and Arun said he surely would do so.

And he did. So, it was just a matter of time when Arun and Mrs Raikar fell in love and become lovers. But their tryst could not go on forever. Mr Raikar returned, and he could instantly sense than something was wrong. Arun was ceremoniously fired. But Mr Raikar’s sense of justice did not stop there. Now, he started beating up his wife.

Mrs Raikar, a young woman of 24, had enough, and one day she ran away. She knew where Arun’s ancestral village was and landed in his house. Arun was more than surprised. He was pissed. First he lost his job, not the additional burden of a married woman to take care of. He did not bargain for all this when he dropped his pants in Mrs Raikar’s bedroom a few months back.

Mrs Raikar was adamant. She wanted a marriage, nothing less. Oh, yes, a house in the city as well, where they would live happily ever after. Some dream! Arun tried to reason with her, but she was beyond reason. So, Arun took the drastic step. As they say, when the entire bamboo grove is gone, how would you play the flute?

The next day, they travelled to the outskirts of Pune, some three hours journey by bus from his village. The plan was to look for a house for the couple. On reaching Talegaon, they decided on a picnic. The climbed the hill, which was dry and deserted, and there Arun strangled Mrs Raikar till she was dead. He left the body there, and left home.

For the next six years, Arun did not leave his village, and the police had clues as to how Mrs Raikar was murdered, until finally justice caught up with the young man.