Yuhn Hota Toh Kya Hota- Rikara FF

Chapter 11

"How can I deny my future wife if she asks for something so sweetly? Its not like you can run anywhere in these chains." Kali laughed as he nodded his head and gestured towards the window.

Gauri slowly moved to the window and stood their pretending to breathe in the fresh air. Gaurav was standing outside. He handed Gauri what she asked for, and showed her thumbs up. Gauri nodded as she took the stuff in her hand and surreptitiously hid it in her dupatta. 

She went back and meekly sat down for the wedding rites. Kali Thakur thinking she had accepted her fate sat down smiling next to her. His brothers also followed suit, and sat down between him and the pandit. The pandit relit the fire. The moment the pandit poured ghee, to make the flames reach higher, Gauri saw her chance and threw the powder Gaurav handed her, into the fire. She tightly shut her eyes as she did so, to avoid the smoke from the fire. She could hear Kali and his brothers scream as the smoke entered their eyes. Her trick worked. As quickly as she could, she got up and turned towards the exit door of the hall. Once out of the range of the smoke she made for the door, and left. 

As soon as she reached the courtyard, she saw Gaurav waiting for her. 

"Gauri didi, how are you going to run with these chains?" he asked worried. 

Gauri looked around the garden in the courtyard, for anything that might help her. Shankarji must be with her because she found an axe near the tree. Picking it up, she sat down and started hitting the chains with it. After three tries, the chain finally seemed to be giving way. 

"Going somewhere?" came Kali Thakur's angry voice as he entered the courtyard. 

Gauri nearly screamed. She tried to get rid of the chains faster. To give her time, young Gaurav launched himself on the big, burly Thakur as Kali approached Gauri. The tiny boy kicked and punched, but he could barely make a dent. The only reason he managed to hold off Kali was because the latter was still half-blinded by the smoke from the fire, and couldn't aim properly.

Gauri finally got rid of the chains. Pulling them away from her feet, she got up, with the axe in hand. Kali Thakur had pushed away Gaurav, and was about to hit him, but before he could do that, Gauri hit Kali Thakur with the blunt edge of the axe over his head. Kali Thakur dropped unconscious. 

Gauri took Gaurav's hands and they both fled from the mansion. On the way Gauri met up with more of her gang, who hid her between them and they made their way to the railway station together. 

On the way to the railway station, her friends filled her in what happened. As soon as Gaurav cut the call, he and others went to Gauri's aunt and uncle's place to rescue her mother. Her mother understood clue and kept the window open for them to enter. Half of them went to the front door, asking for chanda (sort of donation) for the upcoming neighborhood event. Her uncle answered the door, and tried to shoo them away but they engrossed him in some nonsense. Meanwhile, two of them got in through the window, and quietly made their way inside. They hit her aunt on the head with a stick and she fell unconscious. Then they untied her mother and took her to the bus depot, and got her a ticket to a bus to Moradabad, where Richa, Gauri's friend, had shifted just last year. It was lucky that Gauri and her mother, had visited Richa after she and her mother had settled down there. Richa's father had passed away last year. Richa's maternal relatives lived in Moradabad. They arranged a place for Richa and her mother to stay, and even got Richa a job. Gauri was upset that her friend had to leave for another town, but now she was glad that Richa was in another town, where Gauri and her mother could escape to. Her mother was already on the bus, and would probably reach there by evening. She knew Richa's address so it was no problem. Now only Gauri had to reach Moradabad. As no other buses would leave now, Gauri thought it would be best to leave by train, it would be faster too, and the sooner she left this town the better. 

They had reached the train station. Gauri hugged her tiny friends and shed tears of gratitude and sorrow. 

"Gauri didi, hurry  now. You don't want to miss the train. We'll have time to meet later. Moradabad is just next town. We'll visit you as soon as all this settles down." the kids assured her. 

Gauri nodded, thanked them and went to the station, to take the train. Finally, she was leaving this nightmare. 

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Kali Thakur was beyond angry, he was literally breathing fire from his nose. Not only had the chit of a girl escaped, but his idiot wife had decided to die today. What is more was that before dying she had named him as the reason for her death in her dying declaration. It was an open-and-shut case. Luckily, the law enforcement machinery was a puppet in his hands, and he knew they would easily suppress the case. 

What bothered more was all the drama he was going to have to do in front of the village. He touched his bandaged head as it throbbed like mad. His brothers were still complaining of their eyes stinging. That Gauri was not going to get away. 

After some time, Kali Thakur proceeded to the funeral ground of the zila, to light the funeral pyre of his wife. Since it was the Thakurain, almost the entire village had gathered there, men in front, and women in the back (as females in India are not allowed to view the burning of the pyre traditionally). Time for his speech. 

"As you can all see, my poor Thakurain is lying dead here. Why you ask? Because of that Gauri. Couple of days back, the big businessman from the city forcefully came and bought the piece of land given by my forefathers. He cleared out all shops there. Poor Gauri lost her source of employment. Her mother was in the hospital. He uncle and aunt were helpless. At this point I decided to step in and help them. But by what right would I help them? Who was I to them? So, her uncle and aunt suggested that I marry her to one of my brothers. Then I can rightfully help her financially. But Gauri had other plans. As soon as she got inside the mansion, she instigated my Thakurain against me, said that it was not my younger brother but me who was going to marry her. My poor Thakurain was a soft, gullible soul. She believed Gauri and set herself on fire. I went to the hospital to take care of my Thakurain, not knowing that Gauri has caused this. Meanwhile, what does this girl do? She fools my brothers and runs away with all the family jewels. While running away she sees me, to evade me, she hits me in the head. Look at this bandage. I entreat all of you, it is Gauri who is responsible for my Thakurain's death, she caused it. Girls like Gauri are a bad example for our society. We have to take the matter in our own hands and mete out justice." Kali Thakur finished his speech, shedding crocodile tears on his wife's death.

The members of the Khap Panchayat nodded their assent to Kali's words. 

Most of the people assembled there, especially the women, knew that this wasn't true. The Thakurain was a pretty woman in her youth. She belonged to a poor family. Kali Thakur's father, a kind man, had chosen her for his son. But hidden from him, Kali used to torture his wife. Once his father passed away, he humiliated her openly. The women in this village knew how much the Thakurain suffered at his hands. Quite a few of them, had been molested by Kali's brothers. Though Bareilly was a developing slowly now, the hinterlands were still haunted by lawlessness. Not only assaulting women, but Kali had the Sarpanch and other Panch members, under his control, as he supplied them cheap liquor. In collusion with the greedy moneylenders in the zila, Kali Thakur usurped debt-ridden lands from the borrowers. 

Literally nobody had the power to counter Kali Thakur's words. Poor Gauri, the Khap panchayat was not going to let her live now. They were going to hunt her down and kill her. The women, and some men too, mourned the fate awaiting her.