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Guilty
#WritcoStoryPrompt30
For a timeless moment, he was suspended within the confines of his car. Then gravity took over with a force that sent the vehicle hurtling down the face of the ravine.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." His broken apology flew down with the blood spewing from his lips...
It was too late.
A deafening crash. A swift scurry of footsteps ensued as several from the small hilly town gathered at the scene of "accident."
"Who is this? How did this happen? Is he breathing? Hey, you, can you help us lift him out of the vehicle at least?" muttered a confused jardon of several voices in the local language.
"Where's the nearest hospital? Let us take this guy out & take him to the nearest hospital. Remember, if a non regional spots us right now, they might think we did this whe thing."
"You're right. Careful there, poor fellow's lost so much of blood already!"
"Do you think he is still----?"
____________________________
And so it was. The news spread into the country like wildfire. A man in his late 30s had been brutally killed in a remote town at the foothills of the Himalayas. His body had been retrieved by locals, but he was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
"The question of the evening is this!" An intrigued voice rang out through the buzz of the media studio. "Who killed Raghunath? We gather his family also lovingly called him as Raghu, so-so, hey-"
"What?"
"Tell them to trend #WhokilledRaghu on Twitter. Along with #Elie and #government."
"Who's Elsie now?"
"The dead guy had a gf. I mean obviously it's either his gf's conspiracy or the work of some cartel he got involved with. Or by sone enemy figure in politics. He had quite the staunch opinion when it came to issues of the country."
"But it is not proven as to whether the murder is political right? So why--?"
"Listen. I don't make the rules. It's an order from above. Get it? You want to keep your job right?"
______________________________
Fast forward several years. Justice had finally been served to Raghu. After 60 days of continuous questioning, the police had taken Elie to court for trial. There was a hushed excitement among the people who had eagerly awaited this moment for so long. Finally, the culprit to this heinous crime would be put to the test. All their cyber predictions and judgements would continue, and contribute as fire to the fuel.
But why did she try to kill him? And how did she plan on doing so?
The truth as uncovered, was chilling to say the least. Even as the court held her at "not guilty" for many years, Elie had been subjected to the continuous harassment of the cyber masses, some of whom tied her to a second liver, while some others to a greed of his property or his wealth. Or maybe she was planted by some drug lord he had had bad blood with? Or maybe, as the most common theory that circulated online stated, she was a witch. And a psychopath.
The evening of the 9th year of Elie's trial saw her being matched towards jail in handcuffs and an indelible mark on her name forever. Sa Gill, the actual murderer who had been caught around a month earlier, had confessed to dropping a bomb on Raghu's car as it skidded off the steep slope and blew up into smithereens, trapping him in the debris.
And who had prompted him? Elie had been named as the mastermind by him.
"I don't know him." she said firmly. "It is true, as pointed out by the opposition, that we had argued and broken up days before he had left the city on the trip. But I, in no circumstances, would have ever wanted him killed. Neither do I know this man. He names me as the mastermind, the one who orchestrated the whole event, yet I do not as much as know him. Milord, I am innocent. Let me walk free."
A close associate of Sa Gill was called in. The trial continued, stretching months and years on end. At the end, all of Elie's testimonies & pleas were of no use.
The jury found her guilty. Sa Gill was given the death penalty and Elie was sentenced to imprisonment for homicide.
Amidst the buzz of the masses, the court closed the Raghunath murder case forever. Elie had done it.
________________________________
Five years.
A memorial had been held in his memory. A solemn event, where everyone came in with serious faces to pay respect to the deceased, the late, loved Raghunath.
"This still hurts me. Remember he used to come over to our house as a kid?"
"If only he had just once told us he would be coming back- we would have never let him go-"
"I hear that girl who trapped him, she starved herself in jail. Kept on saying she was innocent till her last breath."
"Yeah, and that she loved him. Now if you ask me, if she loved him so much, she should have gone with him right? Why leave him after a break up to visit the hills, where accidents are so common?"
"It's just whataboutery. At this point, it is too late to speculate. All we know is, Raghu lived among us. And he left too soon. How, why, we don't know-"
"Why would someone try to even do this?"
"No idea. Don't want to think about it. We live in such dreadful times."
"Really."
__________________________
Only one remained at home. Clutching the property keys, he murmured in ecstasy, "Mine! All mine! All the family wealth is mine now! Noone even guessed it! And you really thought you got away with rejecting me, Elie? Leaving me for my elder brother, as my family has always done? And marry him? Not on my watch. Nobody will ever catch me, not in this life time!"
The air was still. Nobody heard him chuckling in glee, except God and the birds of the night.
For a timeless moment, he was suspended within the confines of his car. Then gravity took over with a force that sent the vehicle hurtling down the face of the ravine.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." His broken apology flew down with the blood spewing from his lips...
It was too late.
A deafening crash. A swift scurry of footsteps ensued as several from the small hilly town gathered at the scene of "accident."
"Who is this? How did this happen? Is he breathing? Hey, you, can you help us lift him out of the vehicle at least?" muttered a confused jardon of several voices in the local language.
"Where's the nearest hospital? Let us take this guy out & take him to the nearest hospital. Remember, if a non regional spots us right now, they might think we did this whe thing."
"You're right. Careful there, poor fellow's lost so much of blood already!"
"Do you think he is still----?"
____________________________
And so it was. The news spread into the country like wildfire. A man in his late 30s had been brutally killed in a remote town at the foothills of the Himalayas. His body had been retrieved by locals, but he was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
"The question of the evening is this!" An intrigued voice rang out through the buzz of the media studio. "Who killed Raghunath? We gather his family also lovingly called him as Raghu, so-so, hey-"
"What?"
"Tell them to trend #WhokilledRaghu on Twitter. Along with #Elie and #government."
"Who's Elsie now?"
"The dead guy had a gf. I mean obviously it's either his gf's conspiracy or the work of some cartel he got involved with. Or by sone enemy figure in politics. He had quite the staunch opinion when it came to issues of the country."
"But it is not proven as to whether the murder is political right? So why--?"
"Listen. I don't make the rules. It's an order from above. Get it? You want to keep your job right?"
______________________________
Fast forward several years. Justice had finally been served to Raghu. After 60 days of continuous questioning, the police had taken Elie to court for trial. There was a hushed excitement among the people who had eagerly awaited this moment for so long. Finally, the culprit to this heinous crime would be put to the test. All their cyber predictions and judgements would continue, and contribute as fire to the fuel.
But why did she try to kill him? And how did she plan on doing so?
The truth as uncovered, was chilling to say the least. Even as the court held her at "not guilty" for many years, Elie had been subjected to the continuous harassment of the cyber masses, some of whom tied her to a second liver, while some others to a greed of his property or his wealth. Or maybe she was planted by some drug lord he had had bad blood with? Or maybe, as the most common theory that circulated online stated, she was a witch. And a psychopath.
The evening of the 9th year of Elie's trial saw her being matched towards jail in handcuffs and an indelible mark on her name forever. Sa Gill, the actual murderer who had been caught around a month earlier, had confessed to dropping a bomb on Raghu's car as it skidded off the steep slope and blew up into smithereens, trapping him in the debris.
And who had prompted him? Elie had been named as the mastermind by him.
"I don't know him." she said firmly. "It is true, as pointed out by the opposition, that we had argued and broken up days before he had left the city on the trip. But I, in no circumstances, would have ever wanted him killed. Neither do I know this man. He names me as the mastermind, the one who orchestrated the whole event, yet I do not as much as know him. Milord, I am innocent. Let me walk free."
A close associate of Sa Gill was called in. The trial continued, stretching months and years on end. At the end, all of Elie's testimonies & pleas were of no use.
The jury found her guilty. Sa Gill was given the death penalty and Elie was sentenced to imprisonment for homicide.
Amidst the buzz of the masses, the court closed the Raghunath murder case forever. Elie had done it.
________________________________
Five years.
A memorial had been held in his memory. A solemn event, where everyone came in with serious faces to pay respect to the deceased, the late, loved Raghunath.
"This still hurts me. Remember he used to come over to our house as a kid?"
"If only he had just once told us he would be coming back- we would have never let him go-"
"I hear that girl who trapped him, she starved herself in jail. Kept on saying she was innocent till her last breath."
"Yeah, and that she loved him. Now if you ask me, if she loved him so much, she should have gone with him right? Why leave him after a break up to visit the hills, where accidents are so common?"
"It's just whataboutery. At this point, it is too late to speculate. All we know is, Raghu lived among us. And he left too soon. How, why, we don't know-"
"Why would someone try to even do this?"
"No idea. Don't want to think about it. We live in such dreadful times."
"Really."
__________________________
Only one remained at home. Clutching the property keys, he murmured in ecstasy, "Mine! All mine! All the family wealth is mine now! Noone even guessed it! And you really thought you got away with rejecting me, Elie? Leaving me for my elder brother, as my family has always done? And marry him? Not on my watch. Nobody will ever catch me, not in this life time!"
The air was still. Nobody heard him chuckling in glee, except God and the birds of the night.
