The Mansion

            This post is based on a narration by one of my acquaintance. His family hails from Karpagrih village in Madhya Pradesh. He visited his village along with his parents and elder sister last year. It is quite common in villages that stories are cooked up about ghosts, evil spirits etc. With this belief my friend heard this story. The story belongs to the time when there was British Raj in India, and it went something like this 

             "....there was a beautiful girl named Bhagyawati. She was the only daughter of village’s rich land lord Udaibhanu Singh. Her father was a keen follower and associate of the Britishers. She was in love with a farmer Amishnath who was famous for his Chikra(music insturment) playing. Both shared the bond equally and their love thrived despite the opposition by Udaibhanu Singh.

A Chikra

              A high ranking English officer Robert Williams visited Singh, when he saw Bhagyawati, he was spellbound by her beauty and immediately offered Singh the kingship of the entire area in lieu of his marriage with Bhagyawati. For Udaibhanu Singh it was like a dream come true, so he agreed upon the agreement. To perform the agreement Singh and Robert Williams laid a trap, Singh publicly announced Amishnath and Bhagywati's marriage. Singh called Amishnath and asked him to bring some material required for the wedding prayers from the city. Amishnath was killed while he was going to the city by Robert Williams and his men.His death was declared as an accident. When Bhagyawati came to know about Amishnath's death she committed suicide by jumping from the mansion's terrace. A day later both Robert Williams and Udaibhanu Singh were found dead in the mansion, both with a fatal head injury and a bloodstained chikra was found lying nearby. Most believed it belonged to Amishnath. The possession of the mansion and other property was shifted to Udaibhan's nephew Suraj Pratap Singh. He sold off other property but was not able to find a proper buyer for the mansion. Suraj Singh came to spend few days in the mansion. He died on the night of his trip and again the murder weapon was a Chikara. Many owners took the possession of the mansion and had to face the same fate. So the mansion was left deserted after its last owner’s death…. “

               This is how the story of this mansion goes. The last owner according to the villagers died in early 1900. So it looked more of a cooked up story to my friend than a reality. The reason of this story making rounds in the village was the recent transfer of the ownership of this Mansion to a businessman Ajay Shah. The repair work of the mansion was going on in full pace from a month. After a week Shah and his wife came for a vacation and live in their mansion. Two nights passed peacefully but after the third night… the day when my friend and his family were getting ready to go back to the city. He went to get some conveyance for going to the station. When he was passing the mansion he saw a small crowd and policemen. When he enquired he came to know another death has occurred in the mansion, Mr.Shah has been murdered by a Chikara and his wife due to shock was in a condition of a living corpse…..