ONE more child vanishes without a trace and never returns. The parents keep their voices silent even as pain sears through their hearts, while other villagers live in fear lest their children form the next string of victims.
A distant God-forsaken village in Uttar Pradesh had witnessed the third incident of child disappearance. The villagers kept quiet and authorities knew nothing. An uncanny silence prevailed over the area. Plagued with prolonged droughts and misfortunes, the people held a staunch belief in some kind of curse plaguing them. In spite of regular worships to appease the Gods, conditions refused to improve.
All of a sudden, mutilated bodies of lost children started cropping up on the outskirts of the village, sending a ripple of foreboding through the sedentary lives of the rustic people.
A couple of days ago, young Karuna vanished. Bilas, her father, started looking for his daughter in the darkness of a chilling February night. While on the hunt, he noticed a streak of light from a distant abandoned temple. With every step he took, the night sky became brighter with the subtle yellow glow from the distant fire. Somebody was chanting mantras and the air was heavy with the odour of country liquor and pot smoke.
As he peeped inside through the dilapidated walls, he saw six tantriks dressed in red robes, their forehead smeared with turmeric powder. They were squatting around a fire, hands folded, preparing for sacrifice. One of them, supposedly the leader, read out ancient phrases from a scripture. Karuna sat in a stupor at a dark corner, her hands tied. She was wearing a similar read robe along with heavy gold jewellery and her head was clean shaven. Parts of the floor and walls were patched with dry blood. Burnt bricks were scattered around. Evidently, the room stood witness to many horrific rituals. The tantriks cast a merciless glance at the child. One of them took out a sword. Bilas watched terrified and clueless…
The decapitated body of the child was found next morning. The news featured prominently on most papers. Bilas never returned. His death was not officially recorded or reported.
