By Animesh Yadav
In the early morning hours of August 12, 2015, Naveen Singh, ASP of Gautam Buddha Nagar Police, received a phone call from a woman named Madeline. The sound of her voice indicated that she was highly stressed. She spoke with haste and didn’t finish her sentences. It was hard for him to understand a word as she mostly mumbled and sobbed. He advised her to calm down and promised to be at her door within less than 30 minutes.
Madeline, a 32-year-old blonde American woman, was the wife of Sumit Mishra, the son of the famous politician Late Jagdeep Mishra. She was Sumit’s 2nd wife and had been married to him for three years. His first wife, Sangeeta, died in 2007, just five months after giving birth to her daughter Srishti.
In 2011, Madeline was looking for a job in the IT sector. One day, while scrolling the job postings on LinkedIn, she came across an advert posted by an IT firm in India. Sumit owned the firm. She submitted her application, and in mere four days, she received a call from the man who eventually became her husband. Sumit interviewed her on the phone and, impressed by her knowledge, hired her on the spot. A month later, she flew out to India.
She worked with utmost dedication and soon became the best employee at his office. Along with her work ethic, her beauty and charm also caught Sumit’s eye. He asked her out on a date, and within a year (since her move to India), they got married.
Madeline became Srishti’s stepmother. She loved her like she was her own. Srishti grew close to her, eventually becoming too attached to her. The girl was a mini-image of Sangeeta.
When Naveen arrived, he found Madeline in a state of hysteria. As soon as she saw him, she threw herself in his arms and broke down in tears. He tried to console her, but it was a failure.
When she finally sobered up, he sat her on a sofa and demanded she tell him everything. Naveen was good friends with Sumit and knew him and Madeline very well. Naveen and his wife used to frequent the Mishra house a lot.
Madeline revealed that Sumit and his mother drove to Jaisalmer to attend a family friend’s wedding. But that was ten days ago, and they hadn’t returned. She tried contacting them, but their phones had been switched off for some days.
Naveen tried his friend’s phone only to discover that it was switched off. Same with Sumit’s mother. When he asked Madeline to give him details about the day Sumit left, and the day before, she revealed that they had had a big fight the night before he left.
Naveen was no stranger to the marital problems that troubled the Mishra couple. Despite trying for years, Madeline was unable to get pregnant. This often led to arguments and fights between her and Sumit. They wouldn’t even talk to each other for almost a week after a fight.
Once, Madeline even stayed at Naveen’s house for five days after a quarrel. Sumit’s mother would often pass nasty taunts and comments at her. But turning off their phones and not returning from a wedding that was long over was worrisome.
Naveen assured Madeline that he would track down Sumit at all costs. He put his best officers on the case. They interviewed everyone at Sumit’s firm for a potential lead, but it bore no fruit. When friends were questioned, it came to light that Sumit and his mother never made it to the wedding.
He put their phones on surveillance to track their location when turned on. But they never did. Their last location was recorded as Jaipur, but nothing was found there when they went to investigate. It was like they had vanished, along with their car, into thin air.
The Delhi-Jaipur highway was searched for months by elite policemen and sniffer dogs. But it brought no answers to the worried woman. The case couldn’t be escalated to kidnapping, as no ransom was ever demanded. And as for murder, there was simply not enough evidence to suggest so. But deep down, Naveen feared for that the most. Yet there were no suspects to interrogate. Despite searching for two years, no progress was made.
The case eventually went cold, and Naveen, with a heavy heart, had to inform Madeline of this sad conclusion. Disappointed and dejected, Madeline sold her husband’s firm for a decent amount and left India with Srishti. She no longer desired to live there.
After landing in Seattle, her hometown, she went straight to her neighbours. They were an old married couple of Indian origin. When the old lady saw Srishti, she slumped to her knees, enveloped the 10-year-old in her arms, and sobbed. She was Srishti’s maternal grandmother.
Sangeeta and Madeline had been best friends since childhood. But unfortunately, Madeline couldn’t attend Sangeeta’s wedding due to an accident; hence Sumit never met her.
Sangeeta was tortured by Sumit, and his family, over dowry. After Srishti’s birth, the tortures intensified, culminating in her being burnt alive. Due to the influence of Sumit’s father, Sangeeta was branded as a runaway. Her reputation was tarnished while Sumit walked scot-free.
Eventually, the truth made its way to Sangeeta’s parents and Madeline, but the rigged system served them no justice. It was then that Madeline began working on her plan to avenge her friend and bring Sangeeta’s only living memory home – her daughter.
The old lady ushered Srishti inside the house. Once alone on the porch, Madeline pulled two mobile phones from her bag and tossed them into the trash bin. Then, she looked up to the heavens and whispered, ‘I brought her home.’ As for Sumit and his mother – ask Madeline; if she’s willing to share.
End
By Animesh Yadav
Very nice story..
Amazing story
beautiful, A must read story
Good
Awesome write up