PART1

A GRUESOME VERDICT

 I drove on the freeway with windows rolled down.The gentle breeze embraced me warmly,playing with my hair.Birds chirruped merrily as buttery sunshine illuminated the green expanse and crowns of myriad of primordial trees.Another glorious morning of picturesque Karnal.
                                                                                                My bearings were a precise reflection of the balmy weather.As I smoothed in the Parking lot of the hospital,I sighed dreamily 'What could go wrong on such a chherful day'.But apparently I was  about to find out soon. I entered my cabin after exchanging pleasantries on the way with my collegues and soon I was so busy with my patients,going round the wards and treating the ailing that every other thought flew out of my mind like bats out of hell.Time passed in a jiffy and it was only in the afternoon that I got some moments  free to sip coffee in the confines of my room absolutely unaware of the storm brewing outside.
                                                                          Suddenly the door of  my room flew open with a loud crash making me to jump a foot in the air and splash the scalding coffee on my hand.Nursing my burnt,I looked up angrily at the newcomer,ready to give him/her a piece of mind, only  to find Sister Marianne doubled   up with breathlessness and looking dishevelled.She clutched the door for support and gasped half-formed sentence.
"Down...E.R.....baby injured.....DR.Raghavan.....calling you.quick."
I jumped up immediately  and chased her out in the cooridor pell-mell.I had always thought of sister Marianne as one of those people who are almost incapable of doing any sort of intense physical labour but now as I tried to keep up with her,Iwas struck by her agility.We ran down the corridor and a flight of stairs,taking two at a time.Finally we burst into the E.R. only to find it bustling with activities.Tension was palpable.I hurriedly made my way to the center of all the efforts only to stop short on seeing the most gruesomest  sight I had ever seen which would continue to haunt me till my last breath.                                                                                                                                  There on the vinyl sheets lay a baby girl,badly mutilated.Her soft skin was covered in bruises and burn marks as if she were branded.Her right leg was lying at an odd angle as if it was broken.She was callously bitten at several places and had sustained head injuries.