Through the Fetters of Retribution

This somewhat paranormal incident had occurred in Sri Lanka during the years 1976—1977. A Senior University Lecturer, Rahul Rajakaruna was taken into custody by the Police for allegedly killing his young and beautiful wife, Champa by stabbing her in her heart and in her secret parts and was later found guilty of first degree murder by the High Court and was sentenced to death at gallows. Exactly three months after his execution, five horrendous and gruesome murders were reported, one in each month and the Police become baffled due to the extraordinary and mysterious nature of these five killings. In all murders, the killer used to mark a capital ‘R’ on the forehead of the victim with his/her own blood. The most astounding feature of these murders was that a couple of weeks later the killer, in a letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) takes the full responsibility of each murder and identifies himself as the University Don, Rahul Rajakaruna who had been executed at gallows. He also explains the reason for killing his victims; it was because they all were instrumental in sending him unjustifiably and wrongfully to gallows. To substantiate his involvement in the murders, he leaves behind his finger prints at each and every scene of the crime. Although the Police suspect that it was another living human being who commits these brutal murders, their investigations in this respect turned totally futile as they become clueless on their conjecture. Thus the Police were left with no other alternative other than to arrive at the conclusion that it was a preternatural force like a phantom or an apparition or a ghost that had been committing these murders. The SSP in charge of the Crimes Bureau believes this so-called ‘Killer-R’ marks the letter ‘R’ on the foreheads of his victims to convey a mute message of ‘Retribution’ and that Rahul Rajakaruna has become a ‘Revenant’ after his death and committing these murders in order to wreck vengeance on the perpetrators. Notwithstanding all the discreet and meticulous investigations done by the Police so far, they become unable to apprehend the killer really responsible for this spate of revengeful murders. They seem to be in a dilemma whether it was a real human being who committed these five murders in the name of the University Don or actually a preternatural force was responsible. Finally, the Senior Defense Lawyer who defended Rahul Rajakaruna at the High Court Trial compiles a complete Biography of Rahul thus enabling the reader to arrive at a plausible decision. Please read on this poignantly and aesthetically written novel to the last letter.