The Catastrophe Of Freedom

   

        Thirty-three-year-old Surekha is a resident of a town in North Karnataka. Being the third daughter of her parents, she learned classical dance at an early age. She developed her love for watching movies in high school and started dancing to movie songs. When everyone started appreciating her dances, she made a video of them and uploaded them to YouTube, where she became even more famous. She joined B.A. at a local college. By the time of her graduation, Surekha earned the nickname 'Dancing Queen' and used to perform in the cultural program of the college. Everyone who knew her started telling her, 'You have the look of a movie actress; act in movies or TV serials'. She registered her name for a few reality shows but had no luck. Surekha wanted to do something and become famous as a film actress.

    One day she left home and went to Mumbai without telling anyone. In search of opportunities, she stumbled across studios and directors' offices in Mumbai. Most of the people who told her that they would give her roles gave her up by using her physically. But a director who took a liking to her offered her a role as a companion to a movie heroine in a group dance. Later, she started getting such roles in abundance. Surekha thought this was her destiny and stopped dreaming of playing heroine roles. Ever since she came to Mumbai, she has cut off contact with her family members. Her parents searched for her for a few days and filed a complaint with the police. They stopped worrying about her when she was not found.

     Surekha became pregnant within a year of moving to Mumbai because she had shared a bed with a stranger. When she went to the hospital to have an abortion, the doctor said, 'Abortion cannot be done because it is 20 weeks of pregnancy.' Surekha inevitably gave birth to a girl. Even then, she did not inform her parents about her whereabouts. Her fellow actresses supported her and helped her raise her daughter. When her daughter was six months old, she started thinking about how to raise her fatherless daughter on her own. She was worried about not getting married. At the same time, she met Rakesh, who was looking for roles in movies like hers. After some time, a physical relationship developed between them. Surekha is overjoyed when Rakesh tells her that he will marry Surekha and be  her child’s father. 

     Rakesh said, 'Let us both live together and get married after a year. She agreed. ' Both rented a one-room apartment and started living together. Rakesh is a strange person. Rakesh was not staying in any house for more than a month. Service apartments or furnished houses were rented for a period of one week to one month. If asked the reason, he said, 'If a house is rented for a long time, its advance electricity and water bill, etc. problems will arise. Even if the rent is increased, it is better to get a furnished house for a month because there is no time to buy furniture. Although Surekha did not like this arrangement, she remained calm and said that she would fix Rakesh after marriage.

         A year passed like this. Rakesh did not propose marriage to her. When the time came for Surekha to admit her daughter to UKG school, she told Rakesh, 'Let's rent a proper house and get married.' He did not bother with this. Because of this, arguments started to take place between them on a daily basis. At the same time, Surekha got to know Alok, who was doing small roles in movies. After a few days of introductions, Alok told Surekha that he was attracted to her. Surekha also did not want Rakesh at that time. So she started meeting Alok continuously. When Rakesh learned about this, he had a fight with Surekha. Surekha said, 'I have decided to marry Alok; you go your own way'.

     Two weeks later, Rakesh rented a new apartment just for a week. Four days after going there, one afternoon, there was a fight between Rakesh and Surekha. The shouting between them was so loud that the neighbors called the manager of the building and complained. When the manager went to Rakesh's house to see what was going on, the front door was open. Surekha was sitting on the sofa in the hall. Rakesh was lying on her lap, bleeding from his neck. Surekha said nothing when the shocked manager asked what had happened. When Rakesh was admitted to a nearby hospital, doctors informed the police that he had been dead for over an hour. The police questioned Surekha. She surrendered to silence. When her daughter was asked, the girl told her that her mother had stabbed Rakesh with scissors. When the police searched the place, they found the bloody scissors in the corner of the sofa.

     A post-mortem examination of Rakesh's body at the Government Hospital revealed that he had died due to a puncture in his carotid artery. The police registered a case of murder and arrested Surekha. Her mobile phone was seized and checked. Alok was called to the station. He told  that both of them had decided to get married, and Rakesh used to fight with Surekha every day against their relationship; Because of this Surekha might have killed him. Surekha did not leave her mouth. Her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter was an eyewitness in this case. Neighbors also testified about the fight that took place on the day of the murder. The court found Surekha guilty. The court ruled that Surekha stabbed Rakesh in a fit of rage and was not premeditated and sentenced her to seven years in jail. She is currently in jail with her daughter.(1)

     Surekha, chasing name, fame and money since childhood, abandoned her family and ruined her life too. Because of her over insatiable desire she destroyed her own life as well her girl baby’s life. Until the last breath of life the girl child has to suffer with a stigma of being criminal's daughter and fatherless. Being without knowing father, in a society is difficult to lead a life. Before killing Rakesh, Surekha should have thought of her daughter.

REFERENCE

1]  Dr.D.V Guruprasad, 2023 December 03, “ಸ್ವಚ್ಛಾ ಜೀವನ ತಂದ ದುರಂತ”, A Kshana, Vijayavani, Bengaluru, Page No-II