Today, I am in my mid-fifties; well-settled in the posh area of Park Street in Kolkata, with two sons and a caring husband. The sons have grown up to be engineers. I am really satisfied with my 'small' family.

Suddenly, a thought came into my mind and a shiver ran through my spine of the incident that took place thirty years back. A very singular coincidence got matched with today and the day thirty years back. As both fell in the rainy season.

The day was a seventh of August. As usual, the whole weather was worse. We used to live in a slum area around Bangur Avenue. During monsoon, Kolkata becomes the sole witness of a very dirty and wet season.

That day, there was a 'pool of blood' in our hut. My mother and I stood and stared at each other when we saw a bag full of my sister's body chopped into small pieces of flesh! All over in one room, wherever our eyes could travel, fresh red blood was visible.

At that point of time, apart from staring at each other's face, we just couldn't think of doing anything else; when people are poor, no one helps them. Outside the room's door it was raining heavily, more than ever. Some crowd of ‘basti people' stood out, trying to peep inside with horror in their eyes and fear on their faces.

'What should we do?' Some of them asked. I just made a resolve that I would definitely find the murderer at any cost. The image of my sixteen year old sister continuously came in my mind, just like flashes from a camera. I guess this is exactly what happens with everybody, when they are shocked at the horrible and 'unseasoned' death of their loved one!

That night, with my own hands, I lifted up the bag of 'finely cut small pieces of flesh' and silently walked out, just like a puppet, with no voices to interpret my feelings. At that moment, I forgot the whole atmosphere around me. I could just recollect that some neighbors who thought to be our friends, walked behind me. It was only a handful of them! The night was darker than ever. I walked and walked. I just forgot that I belonged to the race of human beings.

I had by then arrived at the Ganges Ghat to immerse the body, sorry—the bag of flesh—into the large river. Doing that, as the flesh twirled down in the pure waters of Ganges, I was at odd ends, thinking who could be the murderer. During that time, many girls, ranged between fifteen to nineteen years, were brutally murdered. This happened all over Kolkata. The patterns of the crimes were differed, but they all were brutal.

A particular girl was first bitten by teeth, all over the face, chin, neck, throat; then fingers touched her finely rounded breasts, naval zone, finally the vagina. There were marks of teeth on her vagina as well with a deep sore. People talked about all this. On this episode, each and every Calcuttan seemed to be in a phase of trauma. Nobody could predict and say who could be the next victim!

The case of murder was also the same. In some first, the girl was throttled. Then also the murderer was not satisfied. After the girl's death, the murderer with a dagger and chopper beheaded her, along with the other parts of her body! While in someone else, the hairs of the head were roughly cropped. The girl raped, showing 'red worse' marks of animal like sexual assault. Hands with long creature like nails attacking young girls, like a butcher, worse than an evil spirit!

Kolkata came to be known as the 'city of the brutal murderer'. From the CID department to the police station, everyone just made enough track to trace the murderer, but it all failed. For the past twenty days in that time, 'the city of joy just turned into 'the city of terror!’

The conservative households just could not sleep. People were really scared. More importantly, if they had daughters of that age!

Girls had stopped going out. It looked as if some fairytale curse had fallen on the city and people. Tourists stopped coming here.

After that night of the murder, my mother's and my life had changed a lot. My father had expired before I was born. My mother used to say, he worked at a nearby machine factory. After that, he developed severe jaundice and expired, leaving my mother, me and my baby sister.

My mother started working in peoples' homes as our economic condition had further deteriorated. I was by then in class nine of a local government school and my sister in standard six of the same school.

People would say that my sister was attractive. With her curly hair, slim figure, well-wishers would say, 'Almighty God had poured all his blessings on her.’ The animal-like murder of my sister had left us in a state of complete dizziness and a level of unconsciousness. We just were counting and passing our days in agony, waiting desperately for a strong clue.

As my mother and I had cleaned the room, with the pool of deep, reddish-black blood, which took several hours to be washed away. Simultaneously, telling to convey to my mother and myself to do something about it.

'What happened? Could you arrange something? My mother used to chant these words like a parrot. At times, I got irritated by hearing, the same words. But I knew, she loved her from the deepest core of her heart.

Even if we were poor, we had some respect. My mother sometimes remained in a state of shock. At times, she talked; sometimes she would just stare blankly at the window, trying to figure out something but to no avail.

‘I don't like anything now.’ My mother again would say. By this time, I was eighteen years old. I had got work in a nearby 'aaya-center', as my mother had stopped working.

Doctor had said that she had developed a brain shock from the incident. Three years passed by now I am twenty-one years old, still trying to find the murderer. Now, the news of girls getting raped and killing had relaxed a bit but still news could be heard of it and broadly described in an atrocious manner.

‘Sir, did you get any clues?’ I would literally go and beg the police officers about it.

‘You know that opening of these cases take lots of time and money.’ The police in-charge said.

I must say that after this incident, we completely lost our sleep and dearly prayed for the situation to get better.

When my sister was alive, from that time we had very few friends in the area. Among them, there was one boy, Rajiv Das. We were of the same age. Needless to say that majority of the people in that area were very poor, illiterate and families belonged below the poverty-line.

Rajiv was a sober boy. Though he had passed his class ten examinations in the third division and was working as a clerk at a nearby bank; in the span of time as we exchanged our opinions we became close friends. My younger sister also used to feel very happy when he used to come at our one-roomed house. He was a 'lanky' boy who hardly talked with his eyes lifting up, ate whatever my mother offered and always stayed humble. His eyes looked as if care and understanding had been mixed with it.

'You don't get tensed and disheartened at any situation?' I used to ask.

'What’s' there to be disheartened at any situation? When you earn an honest salary, you have every right to keep your head held high up.’ Rajiv used to say.

And these words by him forced me to respect him from all angles. In fact, it was not only us, but the entire people in that area, knew him to be a good person. Gradually, Rajiv became a strong support for my survival. Whatever secrets I had, I started sharing with him. Even after my sister's death, I started talking with him too much. He became my best friend ever.

But the saddest part was that the murderer could not be traced at all. There were still signs of brutal young girls' murder in Kolkata and some areas of West Bengal.

News suddenly came up that one Anantika Sharma, a fifteen year old girl was not only sexually assaulted, but a sharp knife had been inserted in her vagina. The picture of her whole body had become viral everywhere. People felt like closing their eyes. It was as if this was something worse than a horror story. The whole body was totally scissored. It was in stripes from head to the tip of the toe. Flesh was torn apart from the naval point till the bottom part. Eyes were uprooted! Wrists were badly cut. Even hair of her head was unevenly cut!

'Someone must have had a bitter revenge on her!' A person from the crowd spoke.

'But, is this the way to hurt someone? This is really ghastly!'

The people murmured in the crowd gathered outside the bungalow. Nevertheless, to state that I had also been there, as it happened in Kolkata.

Big vans of police came. Started their respective investigation. This girl's father is a reputed businessman of West Bengal. So, all the top leaders of the state were all summoned to a meeting.

I was at least hopeful, that now some trace of the murderer could be found. I felt relieved a bit that evening. Rajiv had come to our house. His presence, more worked like a balm on me, which readily soothed my mind. 

'You know, today I am very much relaxed. Now someone would be able to trace the murderer.’

'Is it so easy to find this long-searched murderer?' He said calmly.

I thought about his words. Maybe what he said was true. Then, how can this animal-like criminal be traced? As Rajiv left, I became all the more worried. I wanted to give justice to my sister and have taken an oath for it. I regularly prayed to God just to help me, find a way through it.

One day in the evening, I caught a glimpse of a shadow. The shadow was of a teenage girl, hurriedly doing something and trying to indicate something. I couldn't get what she tried to find! The shadow was without hands except a protruded figure. No eyes. The shadow had a head which looked like covered with blood, somewhat crying and pleading for help.

'I know that I have to help you but gradually I am losing ground to everything; they are just slipping out of my hands.' I cried out!

When I opened my eyes, I realised no one was there. I perspired a lot! My throat had dried up. The clock struck three now. No sound could be heard from outside. It was just the silence of the night. Only a fat lizard just ran down the walls, hastily, as if its life has been in danger.

I felt how I desperately needed some clues. In the meantime, in the dead of the night, a hound of dogs just cried in series. I shivered.

For the next five weeks and weeks after, Rajiv had completely stopped coming. When asked about him, his mother said that he had some overdue works and the manager had given him some extra money for this. I decided to work on my own. As there was lack of evidence, Anantika case had also come to an end.

In the meantime a good proposal came. My mother is in her sick bed and she readily agreed to this. After my marriage, my husband and I kept a good nurse to take care of my mother.

By this time, I had not at all forgotten about my past promise. Several years after my marriage, I read in the newspaper that the murderer would kill the unique teenager and without any evidence. Now was the time of Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Kolkata. Everyone is in the mood for celebrations. There are different pandals well lit. People were gorgeously dressed for the occasion and there were different light arts of various patterns in different areas of Kolkata. The criminal had given the link somewhere that he would slay his victim, someplace in Central Kolkata. 

I headed for the biggest pandal here. Huge crowd was pouring in here, to have a look at the deity beautifully made. I just kept a close watch. Gradually I noticed a teenage girl, who was alone. Suddenly the thought gripped me by the collar.

I went and directly asked her the reason of coming alone here. She said that she was an orphan. She was fairly pretty with a natural uniqueness which discriminated her from the rest of the people. 

I just couldn't leave her. After sometime, I noticed that she wasn't there. The pandal was slowly filled with people. I kept searching for her. Then I noticed her gliding figure, hastily going outside the pandal. I followed suit. When I had gone out, I still could see her walking in the near distance. I shouted but to no avail. It looked as if she had been drugged. In nano second of time, she was completely out of sight!

I heard a terrible shriek afterwards. It was the shriek of someone in tremendous pain. I followed the sound. About two kilometers from the pandal, she lied. Clothes were all torn from her body. As I went nearer, I observed that her whole body was pricked with a needle. In different parts of her body, blood was oozing out. Her throat was slit. Her hands tied behind and eyes were up!

It was the worse present nightmare I had. Besides, the body and amongst the pool of red, hot blood, there was a bracelet. The same bracelet which was worn by Rajiv; Rajiv Das!

That moment I was nearly in my wits'end! Somehow, I just managed to go to Rajiv's house. He wasn't there. As, I had brought police with me, his whole house was searched over. Several daggers were found along with knives used by butchers!

It took three days to catch him. He had run away to Shantiniketan and was staying in a relatives place.

When the case started, at first he didn't speak about anything. Gradually, he was diagnosed with Hybristophilia. After four months, he accepted that he had committed everything.

He was sentenced to death. That night I dreamt of my sister. She felt happy and relieved. She just said, 'God bless you!'

Tears started coming out of my eyes.