3 days of Hell - A story based on real life incident

" Arikil nee undaryirunnu enkil...( If you were with me..) ", my phone alarm rang. I sprung up from my sleep feeling heartbroken. I opened my eyes and realized it was just a dream.

We had completed just 6 months of marriage. But our love for each other was out of this world. He was working as a delivery boy at a restaurant in Oman.He had to leave a month after our marriage. I was missing him very much. I realized it was Friday, a holiday in Oman. I took my phone and gave him a missed call. He immediately gave a call back.

"Hello, Good Morning Sweet heart", he said in his sleepy voice.

"Good Morning...How are you?..... I am missing you a lot. I wish you were with me. Isn't there any way by which we can always be together?", I asked him in a gloomy tone.

"My dear, I am always with you. I will soon come back. We will have to surpass this stage with lot of patience. I will come back once I make enough money to start a business and then we will live together in our own house with peace of mind. I am eagerly waiting for those happy days. Pray to the Almighty to bless us", he replied.

" I am so sorry if I hurt you. I just saw you in my dreams. I saw that you were leaving me and flying away towards the sky. I was feeling extremely upset and wanted you with me. Let's forget about it. Isn't today a holiday? What are your plans for today?"

"Yeah..I'm planning to visit my friend Asif. He has agreed to give me some money as loan to start our business", he replied optimistically.

"Be careful. I am worried about you because of that bad dream. Take care of yourself dear", I said fretting about him.

"Oh my darling...don't you worry. Here, I am absolutely safe. Nothing will happen to me. Stop worrying about me and look after yourself. Take good care of yourself. I will call you once I am back home. Bye..", he pacified me.

I was feeling better after speaking to him. However, the heaviness in my heart had not subsided. I managed to ignore it and woke up from the bed. I opened the almirah and took out my husband's pendant which he had gifted me on our wedding day. I stood gazing at the pendant and cherishing his memories. I wore it so that his thoughts linger on my mind throughout the day. The day then began with customary house hold chores . I prepared breakfast and lunch for everyone at home. My father -in- law had gone to offer prayers. My mother- in- law was busy preparing and storing masala (spices) for the next few months. My brother- in- law and sister- in -law had gone to their respective colleges. That day, I had prepared Chicken Biriyani for lunch. It's my husband's favourite dish. In the afternoon, once everyone was back, , we all sat together to have lunch. I was missing my husband a lot while having lunch. Meanwhile, my mobile phone began to ring. I saw the number on the display screen and was thrilled to see an internet call. I thought that my husband must be back home and we will be able to talk for a longer duration as internet calls are cheaper. I picked up my phone which was kept besides my chair. I answered the call elatedly,

"Hello...".

Before I could say anything further an unfamiliar voice started yelling in a foreign language. I could not understand a word but I could hear somebody wailing loudly while he spoke. I was panicked. I could not judge anything. I quickly gave the phone to my father-in-law.

"Hello.. Who's this?", my father-in-law asked and turned on the speaker mode in my phone.

He kept mum for a while, the person on the other end was shouting again and we all could hear somebody's cries in the background. By now, everyone in the house were frightened and were anxious to know about the caller.

"Malayalam, do you speak Malayalam? I am not able to understand you. Who are you? What do you want?", my father in law said with a shivering voice. The phone call got disconnected. We all stood perplexed and stunned unable to interpret.

"Who must have called? What does he want?", my mother-in-law said worriedly.

The phone bell rang again. My father-in-law answered the phone with the speaker mode on, so that we all could hear the conversation.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggghhhhhh..................", somebody cried loudly.

The person who had called earlier spoke something which was alien to us. Then we heard a thud and again somebody yelled. It seemed as if somebody had been hit with something very huge and he was crying because of pain.

"Umaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (Mother).......Aaaaaaaaaaargh",the man cried again.

This time the cries sent chills down our spine. It was my husband who was crying and yelling. My heart just stopped beating, my body was shaking vigorously, I was feeling dizzy. I suddenly had a lump in my throat and wanted to burst into tears. I somehow composed myself and looked at everyone else. My father-in-law was on his knees raising his head and lifting his hands up in the air. He seemed to be asking Lord, "Who?", "How?" ,"Why?" My mother-in-law stood staring at the phone unable to trust the reality. My brother-in-law was consoling my sister-in-law who was crying uncontrollably. I sat down on the chair and lowered my head clutching my husband's pendant. Our minds were paralyzed.

The phone rang again. This time my father-in-law did not want to answer. He could not bear his son's cries. He asked me to answer the call. I saw my husband's phone number flashing on the display screen of the phone. I prayed for this to be a dream which would cease when I opened my eyes. However, it wasn't a dream. and I had to really answer that critical call. I opted to hear the conversation alone and intentionally didn't turn on the speakers.

"Hello..", I said chokingly.

"Hello...It's me", my husband said panting.

"Where are you? What happened to you?", I asked him bursting into tears.

"I don't know where I am. A gang of six people have kidnapped me. They want Rs.50,000 or else they will kill me.....Aaaaaargh...",he cried in pain.

"You will receive their account number via message after this call", he added.

I could hear that thud sound again and again and my husband was screaming on top of his voice. They were thrashing my husband while he spoke to me. The call ended and I received a SMS with the details of a bank account in Pakistan. Everyone at home looked at me with thousands of questions in their mind. I repeated my husband's words.

Hell broke loose at our house. We all had only one question common in our minds, "Why him?" Neither I and my family or my husband and his family were rich. We survived merely on the income of my husband and his elder brother who worked in Saudi Arabia as a driver. We all decided to inform my husband's elder brother about my husband's condition . My father-in-law explained him the situation and forwarded the SMS which the kidnappers had sent using my husband's number. He promised to arrange the required amount by the next day and send it to the kidnappers. He also instructed us to approach the local police station for help. My father-in-law went to the police station and filed a complaint. The police had warned us not to pick up VoIP calls again. We all didn't eat or sleep that night. We all sat together in a room praying for his safety.

Next day morning, we all were waiting in anticipation for my brother-in-law's call from Saudi. Nobody had stepped out of house. We received 6-7 internet calls since early morning. But we followed the instructions of the police and did not attend any internet calls. Finally, my father- in- law spoke to my brother -in- law in Saudi. We all keenly watched his expressions while he spoke. He looked petrified. He started hitting his head hard with his hands.

" My son, who will save him now?", he wailed.

" What happened? What did he say? Was he not able to arrange the money?", my brother- in- law asked curiously.

"No....they now want 5 Lakh Rupees", he shouted agitatedly.

"They spoke to the eldest one in Saudi. They have received 50,000 which he had deposited to the Pakistani account number. But now they don't want that amount and instead they want us to give them 5 lakh. From where will I give them so much money. I am a sick poor man living on whatever my son's provide me. Oh Lord! Only you can save my child now", he sounded weak.

We all were emotionally drained. I could not tolerate anything anymore. I decided to call my husband's friend Asif who had promised to arrange loan for his new business. I searched my husband's diary for Asif's contact number. I found his residence number in India and spoke to his wife. I told her that it's an emergency and requested her to share his Omani contact number with me. I quickly dialled Asif's number and narrated the entire episode to him. I requested him to give me the money which he had offered to my husband as loan for our business. He told me that he will need at least a month's time to arrange that money. However, he assured me that he will inform my husband's sponsor in Oman about the incident and seek his help in all possible ways. My husband's sponsor was a policeman, I recollected. My mind was full of hopes and prayers once I spoke to Asif. I felt strong and decided to fight for my husband's rescue.

After my mother-in-law went, my father-in-law locked himself in his room. He probably wanted to spend some time alone. My brother-in-law went to the police station to inform them that the kidnappers had increased the amount of ransom money. I and my sister-in-law prepared lunch. Nobody in the house had a nibble of food or a drop of water since the kidnappers had called. We both then served the food for everyone when my brother-in-law came back. We insisted our father-in-law to join us and have some food. I was about to put a morsel into my mouth when I heard cries of my husband echoing in my ears. I wondered if they even gave him water to drink. I could not eat my food after that . I vowed not to drink even a drop of water till my husband is released from the clutches of those demons. We all prayed that night and tried sleeping. But sleeping seemed to be penance for our all of us. We all spent that night thinking about my husband and my mother-in-law who was alone on a pilgrimage.

Another day had begun. My phone bell rang. It was the kidnappers again. They had coerced my husband to call again from his contact number. I quickly answered the call. I could again hear the sound of thrashing and hitting. My husband seemed to be too exhausted to even cry. They told him to speak to me.

" They have all the contacts in my phone and they made me speak to my brother in Saudi. They want more money... 5 lakh rupees. They will kill me otherwise. They hit me daily with iron rods, kick me and thrash me. They almost killed me yesterday when you did not respond to their internet calls.... I love you all...I don't think I will live anymore.", my husband said hopelessly.

I was dejected. All the confidence and strength that I had gathered had vanished. My hopes were dampened. I decided to abandon my battle for him. I just closed my eyes, kneeled down and prayed for a miracle. A miracle could only save my husband. My brother-in-law switched on the TV. The news channels were flooded with my husband's kidnapping story. My anguish increased watching the news all over the channels. They might kill him now in order to escape, I thought. I cried endlessly. The dream which I saw on the day he was kidnapped looked relevant now. He was going to fly away without me. I wanted to kill myself. I didn't want to live alone. Later on, I received a lot of phone calls from various news channels enquiring about the details of my husband's kidnapping case. They helped me calm me down. Later, I felt optimistic about the news channels flashing his kidnapping news. The news might reach somebody who can help my husband, I thought.

We all were sapped without food and sleep. We could only do one thing- pray to the Almighty. At 4am, my phone rang again. It was a call from my husband's contact number. I was trembling with fear.

"Oh God...please do not let anything bad happen to him", I prayed and connected the call but did not utter a word.

" Hello....Lord saved me dear. He sent his angels in the form of policemen and rescued me. I never thought I will live to see this day. I still cannot believe that I am free. Those culprits have been arrested by the ROP (Royal Oman Police). They were watching TV when the police barged into the room where they had kept me imprisoned. The police rescued me. They gave me water and are taking me to hospital. God is great!!!", my husband said in a feeble but happy voice.

"God is great. I... love you!", I whispered.

" He's free....He's free. The police saved him...", I exclaimed after disconnecting the call.

My sister-in law came rushing towards me. She hugged me tightly and we both cried with smile on our faces. My father-in-law bowed down and kissed the floor thanking Lord for rescuing his son. We all were relieved and happy. I understood the meaning of happiness for the first time in my life. Lord had heard our prayers. My mother-in-law's efforts did not go unnoticed before the Almighty. The sunrise had brought back the rays of happiness into our lives.

We called up the news channels and shared our happiness with them. My brother-in-law accompanied my father-in-law and informed the local police about my husband's rescue operation. I switched on the television and saw the news of husband's rescue. Asif had contacted my husband's sponsor. He had alerted ROP about the incident. ROP tracked the location of the kidnappers on the basis of the signals received from my husband's mobile phone. They showed images of wounds inflicted on my husband's body on television. I was furious. I wished that Lord severely punished the kidnappers for their sins. Then suddenly, they showed a video clipping of my husband. My joy knew no bounds when I saw him. I again thanked God, our savoir. His blessings had ended 3 days of Hell.

( This story has been inspired by the recent incident in Oman, where an expatriate from the south Indian state of Kerala, was abducted by a masked-men gang.)