Tangled Hearts: Love, Lust & Betrayal

    

    27-year-old Sumitra belongs to a middle-class family in Kochi, Kerala, where her father is a private employee. Being their only daughter, her parents gave her a lot of freedom. After graduating with a degree in architecture, Sumitra was looking for a suitable job. At that time, she was very active on social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram, spending two hours a day on them.

    One day, she saw a post by a young man named Vikram. Vikram claimed to be 23 years old and hail from Uttar Pradesh. He stated that he was studying medicine in Kazakhstan and posted photos of his college, hospital, classmates, teachers, etc. in his posts on Facebook. He also claimed his interests. Sumitra, who had the same interests, sent him a friend request. After two days, he agreed and became her friend. After some time, they both started chatting on Facebook Messenger and became close to each other.

    Meanwhile, Sumitra got a job at a renowned builder-developer firm in Chennai. She had to work only from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The salary was also higher than her expectations. But her parents did not want their only daughter to go far away and work. Her parents advised Sumitra to find a job in Kochi itself. But despite the opposition of her parents, Sumitra went to Chennai and joined the job. She stayed in PG, which was close to her office. She used to go to Kochi once a month and spend a couple of days with her parents.

    After some time, Vikram informed Sumitra that his medical examination was over and he would return to India next week. He told her that he wanted to meet her in person and asked for her mobile number. She gave her mobile number, and Vikram called within two minutes and talked to her for half an hour. The next day, they both started talking for hours every night. After six months, Vikram told me that he got a license to practice in India and that he wanted to do his master's degree and was coming to Chennai to prepare for it.

    They both met in a mall in Chennai. Both fell in love with each other on their first meeting. Vikram said that he belonged to a rich family and was the only son of his parents. When Vikram told Sumitra that he was attracted to her after seeing her photo, she blushed. They both noticed that there were many similarities in their interests.

    A month later, Vikram got a resident job in a prestigious hospital in Chennai. He shared that happiness with Sumitra and proposed to marry her on the same day. Although Vikram was a year younger than her, Sumitra agreed immediately. Both told their parents about this. Both families opposed the relationship. But the young couple did not take this opposition into account. After two months, Vikram and Sumitra decided to live together. A one-bedroom apartment was rented, and they both started living there as husband and wife. Naturally, physical contact also developed between them.

    Vikram had a weakness for watching pornographic images and videos. He was a member of several pornographic websites. He kept this matter a secret from everyone, including Sumitra. He went by the nickname Jolly Joseph on those websites. Every day, he used to watch videos and photos on these websites for more than an hour. Once Sumitra went to Kochi, Vikram installed cameras in his bedroom and bathroom.

    After Sumitra returned to Chennai, he videotaped their private moments. He also filmed the scenes of Sumitra taking a bath. This did not go unnoticed by Sumitra. After about six months of cohabitation, Vikram rejected Sumitra. They started quarreling over trivial matters. One day, when they got into a heated argument, Vikram got angry, edited his and Sumitra's private video appropriately, and posted it on a private website of which he was a member.

    After about 3 months, a classmate of Sumitra's who was in Kochi noticed this video and informed Sumitra. She also sent a clipping of the video through WhatsApp to Sumitra. After seeing the video, Sumitra became maddened. She was sure that the person who did it was none other than Vikram. But she did not discuss that matter with Vikram. But she told this information to her relative Subhash, who was in Chennai, and asked what to do next. He suggested filing a complaint with the police. But Sumitra was afraid that if she went to the police station, everyone would know about her private matter. She wanted to teach Vikram lessons in a different manner, so she told Subhash. He agreed to this.

    Subhash invites Vikram and Sumitra to a party at his house the following week. He also invited his two friends, Ramesh and Mohan, to that party. Everyone drinks alcohol. After a round of drinking, Sumitra asks Vikram why private videos leaked on the internet. He said that he had nothing to do with it. An angry Sumitra hit him on the head with the whiskey glass. Seeing that, Subhash and others joined hands with her and beat Vikram mercilessly. As a result, Vikram was severely injured and fell unconscious. The four people immediately got scared and took Vikram to a nearby private hospital. They told the doctors at the hospital that Vikram, who had drunk too much, slipped and fell down the stairs and injured himself.

    After two days, Vikram regained consciousness and told the doctor the real reason for his injury. The doctor called the police. They recorded Vikram's statement and registered a case of assault against Sumitra and three others for causing grievous harm. Later, when the police took them into custody and interrogated them, they confessed to the crime. All of them were sent to judicial custody. After 8 days, Vikram's condition suddenly worsened in the hospital. He died the same night.

     All four accused in the assault case were charged with murder. In the court hearing, the lawyer for the accused pleaded that the accused had no intention to kill Vikram and that the act was done out of sudden rage and under the influence of alcohol. The court did not entertain this argument and termed Vikram's death manslaughter, not murder, and sentenced  seven years of rigorous imprisonment each.(1)

 REFERENCE

  1] Dr.D.V Guruprasad, 2024 January 14, “ಲವ್, ಸೆಕ್ಸ್, ಧೋಖಾ ”, A Kshana, Vijayavani, Bengaluru, Page No-II