MG SS - HP Express Epilogue - 25.01.13 - Page 16

Epilogue:

Six months had passed. Maan had come to the hospital like every day and found Geet finally awake from her coma. He bent forwards and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Maan had told the staff to inform him once Geet wakes up. The drugs had taken their toll on her health but luckily, her coma had proven a good time for her as her body was let to recover on its own.

"How are you?" Geet, still being weak and pale, blushed at this display of affection.

"Ok, I guess. What happened?" Maan sighed and started narrating how they found out about her and Meera from her old maid Kavita. Then, in as much detail as he remembered he told her how they had started their mission in Hoshiarpur. The girls had been rescued; many of Thakur's men were killed. Geet asked about Meera. Maan took another deep breath.

"We found her, in the nick of time. That bas***d Thakur was going to…", Maan looked away but Geet understood.

"Seeing us all come in, he held Meera hostage and demanded to be let go or else he would kill her but Meera got a knife from somewhere and ran it into Thakur's stomach. His injuries were little and Brij knocked him down. He is still in jail." After a few minutes while he caressed her cheeks, Maan asked something he had on his mind for a long time.

"Geet, why did you stay back in Hoshiarpur and not run away?" Geet looked at him and lowered her eyes.

"I always wanted to be my father's son. I wanted him to be proud of me. I had promised him that one day I will do something he could be proud of. My father was a courageous man and did not run away from danger. How could I, his daughter, run away? When I failed and almost got killed, I felt like a failure. I couldn't do anything…" Maan took her into his arms.

"Shh, don't say that. For you those may only be a few women you saved but even saving one innocent soul is like saving the entire mankind. Don't feel disheartened. I am sure, wherever your father is right now, he will be proud of you."

"What will happen now?" Geet asked him after calming down.

"We were waiting for you to wake up. You are our star witness in this case and once you gave your statement to the judge, I guess it will be all over."

The doctor came in and checked on Geet. She was still going to be hospitalized but was allowed to go to the court hearings when necessary.

At the court, Geet came across a few familiar faces. The lawyer asked Geet to tell them her part of the story. As she came to the part where she was exposed, the judge asked:

"But Miss Handa, if everything was going well, how did you get exposed?"

"Sir, since my family's death, I have been hiding and trying to fulfil his mission. With me, there was my maid's daughter Sonal." Geet turned to look at the other witness, pale and scared.

"She was the one who got me caught." There was uproar in the court room. Till now, Miss Sonal had proven to be a good witness, telling them how things ran in the organization.

"Are you sure Miss Geet, Miss Sonal had spoken freely against the organization…" The lawyer asked her.

"Sir, she was the maid's daughter. Can you tell me why she was running around freely among all those men unharmed? She was caught one day and in return for her safety she got me caught. That is why after my last rescue of Kavita chachi I almost died." The people started to murmur, Sonal was sitting motionless next to her mother.

As the hearing went on, Thakur was accused of human trafficking, organized prostitution and attempt to murder of at least two people. As his case looked quite strong, he lashed out at the other public figure. Dinesh Makhnojia. Dinesh was in Mohinder Handa's team ten years ago and responsible for the failure of the mission along with the death of Major Handa and his family. Geet saw the man she had once been very close to. For money and a good life he had sold himself. Many men, who wanted to save themselves, gave testimony against these two and multiple other high ranked officials. Geet was shocked when even Maan was called into the witness box.

"Mr Khurana, Mr Ashutosh Thakur has brought to our attention that the new railway track that was going to be used for transporting the women and girls was made by your company and that you were well aware of that." Yash and Meera had to hold Geet as she wanted to jump up and defend Maan.

"Your honour, I was not aware of that. I had taken the project as it was not only going to be of benefit to Mr Thakur but also to the public. I do admit to being eager to gain this project but I was totally unaware of Mr Thakur's true intentions."

"Can you prove that?" Thakur's lawyer asked, grabbing at this weak point.

"No, I can't." Geet was close to bursting into tears. This was not how it was supposed to go. The public prosecutor asked for Brij Veer Singh to come to the witness box.

"Inspector Singh, can you tell us about how you found out about the going-ons in Hoshiarpur?" Brij told in full detail how he had been on Thakur's tail since the blast in his factory (which turned out to be an accident in the end) and how he had asked his colleagues in all major cities to keep their eyes and ears open. Then he mentioned Inspector Rawat, who told him about the missing person complaint of Miss Geet Handa. Brij raised the point that if Maan Khurana was guilty, he would have hardly done so and also not actively engage in the search for Miss Handa and Meera. Once he was done, the judge made a few notes. The session would continue after a break.

Geet rushed to Maan and hugged him tight. Maan ran his hand over her back.

"This is unfair." Geet said but Maan did not reply. He was confident that all will end well.

After the break, more people were questioned, accused and cross questioned. The judge made notes and notes. At the end of the day, he postponed the verdict for the next day.

Entire India was sitting in front of the TV, waiting for the court room to open and the public prosecutor to come out. Yash, Meera and Geet were outside the court building. They had not been let it as the court room was already filled with too many people. Quarter past twelve, the door finally opened. Reporters eagerly waited for the public prosecutor to speak up.

"The honourable judge has given his verdict. Mr Ashutosh Thakur has been sentence to life long imprisonment twice for human trafficking and prostitution. Mr Dinesh Makhnojia is sentenced to death by hanging for multiple murders including that of Major Handa and his family. The other officials are being sacked and further inquiries are going to take place soon on their exact involvement. As for Mister Maan Khurana, all charges have been found baseless by the judge and he has been freed of all charges. Miss Sonal is also going to be free as she had no direct involvement and acted out of self-defence." Maan came out of the building and was directly engulfed by Geet, followed by Yash. They saw Sonal walk free. Guessing by their expression her verdict was too mild but her true punishment followed when she reached the bottom stairs and was surrounded by reporters. Kavita, who had been initially glad to see her daughter unharmed, was even more devastated to find her daughter on the enemy's side. She might have even forgiven her for that but having given away Geet and caused her almost to die was unforgivable. In front of a horde of reporters and the entire Indian nation that was following the life telecast, Sonal received a tight slap by her mother, getting to hear what a disgrace she is and that she henceforth does not want anything to do with such a girl.

The following days, the news was full of it. Makhnojia had put an appeal as had Thakur but their case was too weak and Geet was assured that they will suffer their punishment.

The girls that had been rescued from Hoshiarpur as well as from other places where they had been kidnapped to had been found and set free. Their kidnappers were all in jail or on the run. The entire episode had ended well but there were still a few surprises for Geet and Meera.

Sensing the next best opportunity, Maan and Yash proposed marriage to the girls. Meera had accepted straight away and apologized to Yash for not having paid his advances much heed in the past. Geet had looked down and accepted, too. She thanked Maan for marrying her, a broken person who had nothing to offer him anymore.

"Geet, look at me." Maan lifted her chin and his expression was stern.

"Don't you for once think that you are not worth it. In fact, it should be me going on my knees begging for your hand. You are a hero, someone who risked her life so often to secure that of other people, strangers. I am proud of you and it will be an honour if you agree to marry me." And she did. Everything was ending on a good note only one thing was still to settle. Maan and Yash had thought of that soon after the girls had agreed for the wedding. Meera, who had moved into the Khurana outhouse with Geet found herself sitting in front of her family. The hurt and disappointment was hard to hold back and every member apologized to her for not trying harder to get her back. Meera's brother, who had come to take her away after seeing her with Yash, apologized to Yash as well for misunderstanding him and thanked him for getting his sister back safe. After a little coaxing from Yash, Meera forgave her family and married off both girls to the Khurana brothers within the next few days in a simple ceremony.

Savitry Devi, and the association that had helped them, also congratulated Geet. The politicians were still all taken by the events that had occurred in their ranks when another piece of news flashed through the media. The president himself will present an award to Geet Handa for her special services towards her fellow country women and the Indian army will present her a medal for her fearless fight against the enemies of the country.

As Geet stood in front of the huge crowed that congratulated her for her awards, she finally felt peaceful. Afar, she could see her father standing, his chest swollen with pride. He looked at her and his smile told her that she was daughter her father was proud of. And that was all she had ever wanted.

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