01x03 - Episode 3

[bunniefuu]

[slow music]

[Shraddhananda] As a child,
I once got really sick.

[baby coughs]

My father took me to every doctor,
and did everything he could possibly do.

A lot of rituals
and religious chants were also performed.

Then,"Swami Shraddhananda"
from the "Arya Samaj,"

who was a disciple of
Dayanand Saraswati…

he was an experienced yogi

and one of the best educationists.

[slow dramatic music]

He'd asked my mother to take me home
and said that I'd survive.

Back then, he asked my parents to name me
Swami Shraddhananda when I grew up.

I always believe that there are only
two types of people in the world.

Either the ordinary…

or the extraordinary.

-[slow dramatic music continues]
-[vehicles honking]

[man 1] Have you ever heard of

Murli Manohar Mishra
who lived in this lane?

No, I've never heard about him.

[man 2] Have you heard of
Murli Manohar Mishra who lived here?

I don't know anything about them.

[man 1] A family named Mishra stayed here.

-Yes.
-[man 1] Have you heard about them?

Yes, I did.

-[man 1] You did?
-Yes.

A family named Mishra lived here.

Now…

two of the brothers died,
one is somewhere else.

I don't know about his
whereabouts. [snorts]

[man 3] There's only an open space there.
The house collapsed.

It was a thatched house back then.

[slow dramatic music continues]

[Shraddhananda] Every great person
in the world

change with time according to the society.

That's what makes them
different from the others.

My mind,

my soul…

and my body always said that…

I am not one of these people.

I am different.

[slow dramatic music fades out]

[theme music starts]

[theme music continues]

[theme music fades out]

-[suspenseful music fades in]
-[thudding]

[reporter 1] m*rder.
This one was especially horrific.

[male reporter] Shakereh Namazie.

Her body was exhumed from a courtyard
in her own house in Bengaluru.

-[static sound]
-[metal clanking]

[Ravindra] The body of an aristocratic
lady was buried in her bungalow.

It's a human tragedy.

-[eerie music]
-[metal clanking]

Sensationalism…

was there in the facts of the case itself.

So, there was a competition among the

newspapers, competition
between news channels.

It was virtually…

trial by fire. Trial by media.

[female reporter]
Public horror and outrage

at the gruesome m*rder of Shakereh.

The self-professed Swami Shraddhananda
who reportedly buried her alive.

Today's story is about
the death of humanity.

[male news anchor] It's about
the devil in disguise.

[female reporter] This cold-blooded m*rder
was planned well in advance.

[man] Swami actually lured her

into marriage with an eye
on her wealth and property…

worth crores of rupees.

There has been a lot of gossip about it.

But the media and…

the police

has primarily gone on the basis
of the conversation

that the family members
have had with police.

[dramatic music]

So there are more sides to this man…

than what we know.

The fact that the court has given him
a life sentence without remission…

you know, saying that this man
is a danger to society.

He should remain behind bars,
even if it is till his death.

[man] It was a huge case.

I was shocked when I saw this case.

And when I read this case…

I was equally shocked.

It was all over in the news.

Every news channel you know.

Property worth lakhs of rupees!
He k*lled! He k*lled!

He was painted like a monster.

[Alok] He was painted like a monster.

[vehicles whirring and honking]

I am Alok Vagrecha…

and I am an advocate by profession.

And it is almost 21 years now
since I have been practicing law.

So this is what it is.

It's very difficult to win a case
which has been tried by the media.

There was a strong needle of suspicion
which was pointing towards Shraddhananda.

But, suspicion however grave…

cannot take place of proof.

This case has also been viewed
from this angle…

that when a man from
the lower strata of society

travels into the higher strata of society
and commits a crime,

then he needs to be punished
in an exemplary way.

[Alok] There is a huge angle
of money in this case.

There was equally a motive for others
to falsely implicate him in the crime.

I think he has suffered enough.

It is time to let him go.

[automated voice]

I am just trying to get…

Mr. Shraddhananda
in Sagar Central Jail, over phone.

[automated voice]

[Alok] It's not possible to call him.

[automated voice]

[Alok narrating] When I argued this case
I was 32 years old.

My objective was,
I'll argue for an acquittal.

Emotionally when you become involved…

in a case, it is very painful.

This has been my experience
with this particular case.

The way he has been convicted
cannot stand.

It was a case of mistrial.

He is an…

old man…

inside prison since last 25 years.

[car whirring]

CENTRAL JAIL SAGAR

[dramatic music fades in]

This way?

Can I go in?

Thank you.

Shraddhanandaji!

[in English] You have saved my life!

[in English] It has
been a long time for you.

Yeah, very.

They will be asking you questions…

-and you can answer them.
-Yes.

Simple?

And if you get confused, ask them again.

Some judge came to visit me.

So he asked me,

why don't you send a mercy petition?

I'm trying my best to write down and

send to…

Governor either--

-You write and then you see.
-[Shraddhananda mumbles]

We'll see what happens.

Thank you very much.

-[Alok] Thank you.
-Thank you.

-I'll see you. Bye.
-Bye.

[metal clanking]

[wind whooshing]

[birds chirping]

-[claps]
-[intense music fades in]

[Shraddhananda speaking in Hindi]
She used to call me Raj.

[motor whirring]

Shakereh was a very good person.

She had great ideals
and she spoke really well.

I never saw her behave badly.

[slow music]

She used to say, "Raj, if I die,

I will have no regrets
because I have lived my life fully

that I couldn't in
those 20 years of marriage."

[slow music continues]

[Shraddhananda] Going out with you,
seeing new places, enjoying life.

The moments spent with you
are the most beautiful in my life."

-[shutter clicks]
-[birds chirping]

She had Mongolian eyes.

She had big desires.

She loved going out to restaurants.

She loved drinking wine during a meal.

I only later learnt that cigars
are first bitten by teeth,

then it's fragrance is inhaled

and then it is smoked.

My wife used to do all that.

[shutter clicks, camera rolls]

[Shraddhananda] My wife was most modern.

I met Shakereh Khaleeli…

for the first time in the year 82 or 83.

[Shraddhananda] The Begum introduced us.

[slow music continues]

It was a simple upper middle class family.

[Shraddhananda] The kids were nice too.

She was often worried during that time

because she didn't have enough money.

And she wanted to build
a big building on her property.

But nobody was supporting her.

[slow music continues]

So, Begum sahib told me

that she has some important business…

and if I could take care
of them in Bangalore.

-[train honking]
-[train whirring]

[indistinct announcement]

[Shraddhananda] A new law was introduced
in the country in the year 1971-1972.

Urban Ceiling Land Act.

The Urban Ceiling Land Act said that
people can only own five acres of land.

[Shraddhananda] The rest of the land
will be occupied by the government.

The family requested me to stay
and solve their land issues.

In a democracy, laws are fascinating.

The laws are so flexible…

that you can find loopholes in it.

Like today, you are interviewing me,

you made me sign some documents.

Now, if I say that I was forced to sign it
by the superintendent, DGP.

I was beaten and that's why I agreed to
give an interview to Ankit under pressure.

That's a different thing that
I did it with my own free will.

But a law is a law.

[dramatic music fades in]

[Shraddhananda] Upon their request,

I started building houses for them.

Then I got their land freed
from Urban Ceiling.

In order to make all this possible,
I was spending my own money.

Mrs. Khaleeli invited me
to stay in their house.

And in 1984, I started living
in their house.

Mr. Khaleeli never stayed with her.

[Shraddhananda] He traveled all the time
to different countries.

I noticed that they lived
mostly apart after marriage.

[dramatic music]

They had a fight at the beginning of 1985.

[intense music]

She had some major differences
with Akbar Khaleeli.

Because of these differences,

she took a divorce from him.

[Alok] One thing was sure that
she was not happy with her…

first family.

I was told that when divorce
proceedings took place…

she returned all jewelry that was
gifted to her by Akbar Khaleeli.

So, she was not a lady
who'd care for money.

[intense music fades out]

[Shraddhananda] And after the divorce

she decided to move out
and live by herself.

[slow music]

Shakereh was a very sophisticated woman.

She used to go to big parties,

she used to deal with big men.

She had very different qualities than me.

I even had to go to many offices with her…

and the whole Bangalore saw us together.

[vehicles honking]

So there might be rumors
that we were together,

or even sleeping or eating together.

Now, I cannot stop people
from spreading rumors.

Around this time one day,

she put a proposal in front of me.

One day she said that she loves me
and wants to get married to me.

I was shocked to hear it
and wondered how could she say this to me.

It was true that I was staying with her,
but like a friend.

But, I had no ill intentions towards her.

Still she proposed marriage with me.

[Shraddhananda] I thought that…

she had just gone through a divorce.

It hasn't even been six months!

If she gets married now
what will people say?

She said I don't care for the society,
"Will you marry me?"

[Shraddhananda] Eighty percent
of the Indian men…

want to marry a virgin girl.

I am an Indian too, so I thought about it.

I thought that one day
I have to settle down.

So we got married in 1986.

[slow intense music]

[Shraddhananda] We
called a sub-registrar to a flat.

We got married under
the Special Marriage Act.

I had a lawyer,

one chartered accountant,

and an auto driver, who used to take
us around as our marriage witnesses.

[suspenseful music]

I and she got married.

And that marriage…

started troubled times for me!

That marriage really started
trouble time with me.

[suspenseful music continues]

[Gauhar] I cautioned her against him.

He once told me,

"The only language
anybody knows is money."

And then suddenly I heard…

she was married to him,

and that finished my world.

I was absolutely shattered!

[suspenseful music]

[Shraddhananda] Gauhar Namazie
was a great lady.

But this thing came up in her mind…

that how can a girl from a family
of 1000 years history

go to an idol worshiper?

She should be buried alive for doing this.

I was welcome in her house ten days
before marriage for food…

and ten days after the marriage…

everything had changed.

There was no
mother-daughter relationship left.

She was good to us

but people change with situations.

When religion comes in between,
people change.

[suspenseful music]

-[clickety-clack of keyboard]
-[woman narrating] At that time

she was staying
at the Richmond road house.

That property originally
belonged to my father,

Sir Mirza Ismail.

The property was given to my daughter
to be passed on to her four daughters.

And she had sworn on the Quran
that she would hold the property for them.

I initiated two civil actions
against my daughter.

[Shraddhananda] They started fighting

and her parents filed
six to seven cases on us.

[in English] She sent a telegram saying
Shakereh, you are dead to me.

You are no more welcome in Singapore.

[suspenseful music]

Mr. Swami Shraddhananda
is not welcome in Singapore also,

neither he is welcome
anywhere in Khaleeli family.

[suspenseful music continues]

The cases weren't bothering me.

They were stressing Shakereh.

I'm a man. I can bear all kinds of stress.

A man can tolerate a lot.

A woman can tolerate everything,

but not outside world's grief
which her own family causes.

We had a great married life,

but, the cases had begun torturing us.

Daily hearings
were making our life hell.

[slow ambient music]

Because of which
she started getting tensed.

The doctor prescribed her some medicines.

She started taking the prescriptions.

[Shraddhananda] She
had a lot of stress on her.

[slow ambient music]

She used to take a lot of other medicines
to sleep peacefully.

To live peacefully.

Every time she returned late from

a party she took her medicines
the next morning.

She woke up between 9:00
or 10:00 a.m. in the morning.

She started becoming quite fat…

and started forgetting things.

[pensive music]

All women has a desire for her baby.

She was around 43 or 44 years old

when we had a baby.

It was a boy.

One day she fell down
from stairs after drinking.

She got hurt.

-[slow ambient music]
-[device beeps]

We got her admitted
in Ram Krishna Nursing Home.

She was saved from dying, that day.

She could have died there that day.

[machine beeps]

A premature boy was born after two days.

He was a good child.

If he'd been alive he would
have grown much older today.

I had also cradled the boy in my arms.

Uh… he was a good boy.

But he couldn't survive.

What can I do about it?

[slow ambient music]

[Shraddhananda] People have made
all kinds of one-sided stories.

But the truth is that she had a baby.

That too, at the age of 44,
when it was difficult for her to conceive.

[slow ambient music continues]

[Shraddhananda] It was
a distressing time for both of us,

and we used to argue with each other
during this time.

But, we never spend a day away
from each other.

[slow ambient music continues]

One day what happened…

it was 26 or 27 March 1991.

That day in the morning
I had gone to the health club.

When I returned from the health club…

what happened is that when I reached home…

[suspenseful music]

And…

-after reaching I saw…
-[flat-line sound]

uh… that…

she was lying dead there.

[suspenseful music intensifies]

[eerie music]

I was so shocked that my body became numb.

I couldn't understand what to do!

[eerie music]

Her body was lying there
in that condition for one whole day.

I kept thinking that
if this news spreads outside…

then I will surely be k*lled.

Because the Hindu-Muslim angle
was already there in our marriage.

That's why I was very afraid.

At that time, my house helpers

said they'd support me in this tragedy.

They dug the hole and did everything.

[somber music]

I thought she should be buried
according to the Muslim rituals.

[thuds]

Actually, I should've gone
to the police at that time.

Everything would've been okay then.

But fear cripples a person so much,

that a person is unable
to take a decision.

She always said, "If I die,
I'll die in this property itself."

"And bury me here." I used to tell her,
"Why do you talk like this?"

I was in a daze…

from morning till evening.

I didn't know what to do.

I was unable to think and reason.

[plank creaks]

We kept her in a box facing west,

uh… keeping her in the direction of Kaaba…

I buried her.

[somber music]

[Shraddhananda] She died in the year 1991.

For three years I was scared
to tell anyone. That is the truth.

Because I was afraid,
I used to lie to everyone

about where she went and
what happened to her.

After three years,
everyone got to know about her.

[static sound]

One day when I was in USA.

In USA, my servants called me and said

that…

we all have been arrested.

And because of our arrest,
we have confessed

the location of Shakereh's body.

So the police knew where her body was

and I thought these poor people
will die for nothing.

So I came back from USA

and after coming back…

I surrendered to the police.

[siren wailing]

They undressed me in lock up,

everyday at night around 11 or 12.

Their officers used to beat me up.

They tortured me.

They'd force me to lie on an ice slab.

[suspenseful music]

They said to me that
they will destroy me there,

and that I had no value to my life.

[Shraddhananda] They
tortured me so much that,

I agreed on everything
they said at that point.

I signed whatever I was asked to sign.

At least by that,
they would release me from that hell.

They told me that they will k*ll me
in an encounter.

"What will you be able to do?"

That's why you keep doing
whatever we are saying.

[suspenseful music]

-Was she your wife?
-Yes.

-What was her name?
-Shakereh…

-Shakereh?
-Shakereh Shraddhananda…

-Shakereh Shraddhananda?
-Yes.

You put her body in a box
and buried it here?

Yes.

Shakereh Shraddhananda, was your wife.

You put her dead body in a plywood box…

-and buried her here?
-Yes.

-You have marked that area?
-Yes.

-Are you sure?
-Yes.

[Shraddhananda] If you ask me the truth,

I used to think about telling
everyone the fact everyday.

Sabah was with me only.

I wanted to tell her many times
but maybe because of fear or nervousness,

I couldn't tell her.

[somber music]

Why wouldn't I ask for forgiveness?

Somethings have definitely happened wrong.

And for those mistakes,

I always ask for forgiveness
from the daughters.

I used to love her a lot.

[suspenseful music]

I'm sorry…

Once she was here…

now there are only memories.

[metal clanking]

This voice…

[in English] You hear that sound?

[imitates metal clanking sound]

He will come here also…

-to check all the gates…
-Gate…

and he will make this sound.

You tell to somebody…

[in Hindi] just tell him,
not to come here.

[indistinct chatter]

Or he'd come here and make that noise.

-[static sound]
-[indistinct chatter]

It's a m*rder for gain.

It's a m*rder for financial gain.

It's a m*rder for gain.

He cheated her.

He cheated her…

and then m*rder*d her.

[Azmatullah] He betrayed her big time.

He gave her some pills.

Once she was unconscious,
he rolled her body into a box,

then he buried her.

He sold the front property
owned by Shakereh.

He sold all of it.

Only one piece of property was left.

It was a big piece of land.

Only when we solved this important clue,
could the case be solved.

Otherwise it seemed impossible.

[Azmatullah] After the
exhumation of the body,

we arrested him…

we charged him for committing a m*rder.

But it was just so difficult
to apply these penal sections.

Because there was no evidence
or a witness.

No witness in sight!

We didn't have any information on him.

We didn't have any witnesses!

He never said anything
about discovering a dead body…

during our investigation.

To believe him or not,

it all depended upon court.

[indistinct chatter]

[female reporter] Shakereh Namazie
had given her power of attorney

-to Shraddhananda.
-[camera shutter clicks]

His lavish spending of her money
resulted in bitter quarrels.

He divided the property into small plots,

and started selling them off.

Shakereh sold the property.
I didn't sell them.

Only two parts
of 81 Richmond Road were sold.

It happened during the time she was alive.

And yes, I signed
as the power of attorney.

But Shakereh received all the money.
I didn't get any of it.

Also the amount received
wasn't big enough to commit a m*rder.

There was a huge litigation between

Shakereh Khaleeli and her mother
and her daughters,

to regain control of the property.

And Shakereh Khaleeli was so angry
with her former family…

that she made a will

in the name of Shraddhananda.

Making him the sole heir of the property,
if something unfortunate happens to her.

[in English] And I never
knew about that will.

[in Hindi] I had no clue it existed.

If Shraddhananda gets an acquittal,
he gets all the properties.

If Shraddhananda gets convicted,

they get all the property.

There was equally a motive

for others to falsely
implicate him in the crime.

Shakereh had bank accounts
which didn't have any money.

She did give me the right of power
of attorney for those accounts.

[in English] In order to do
whatever operations I wanted to.

I used the POA only once.

In order to start the SS HOUSING FINANCE.

We both had to sign it being in
the position of directors of the company.

[Shraddhananda speaking in Hindi]
I also built a house for her.

The SS Mansion is still standing today.

We did it together.

We worked on it together.

It's a beautiful building.

[suspenseful music]

[Sanjay speaking in English]
Because, as the legal saying goes…

men may lie but circumstances don't.

Ultimately if you're
in a circumstantial evidence case…

if you manage to break

even one link in
the chain of circumstance…

the entire chain falls…

and you are entitled to an acquittal.

[Kondandaramiah speaking in English]
It is difficult in Indian context

to get convictions…

when there is no direct evidence.

Building up circumstantial evidence

to convince the court
is rather difficult.

But, I thought uh…
the regular prosecution side…

may not be able to…

make a good job out of it.

And I thought special attention has
to be given to this case because

I was convinced that
it was such a cruel matter,

it has to be presented properly
and the accused…

has to be got convicted.

[Kodandaramiah] I talked to Nagesh.

I said I wanted you to take up this case.

To present the case in court.

And I want the government
to appoint a special public prosecutor.

After I went through the final report
that is filed in the case,

I thought it is extremely difficult.

No direct evidence.

We have got to bank upon
the circumstantial evidence

and it is a challenging task
that was given to me.

[suspenseful music]

[Alok] There is an inherent lacuna
in this particular case.

The only evidence is the recovery
of the dead body.

But you still have to prove
the factum of m*rder

by independent evidence.

Now this is a very strange thing
that has happened.

This entire thing was video graphed.

The entire sequence was video graphed.

[Alok] As soon as they reach
this house 81 at Richmond road…

the accused puts his hands in his pocket

and takes out the keys
of that house, opens the lock.

-[vehicles honking]
-[indistinct chatter]

So you cannot eliminate
the possibility of…

keys…

lying unsealed!

On 31st investigating officer
goes inside the house with the accused

and recovers eight types of drugs,

to prove that she was given
particular poison or sedatives.

Why would he keep those tablets
for three or four years,

which were later to be used
as evidence against him?

Were these keys not available
to the investigating officer?

Whether he had planted those drugs?

Because those drugs were really cheap.
They were not expensive drugs.

[Alok] There couldn't be any motive
for keeping those drugs for four years,

in that house.

Here is the break…

in the chain.

That recovery of the drugs
becomes doubtful.

[suspenseful music]

[interviewer] Swamiji, for record.

You are charged with burying
Shakereh Khaleeli alive.

This is a lie.

I will never admit to this.

A man can't be this cruel
to bury a woman alive.

There's no truth to this.

This is an absolute lie.

That's all.

[theme music]

[theme music ends]