Every night my daughter called, crying for me to take her home. The next morning, my husband and I went, but at the doorstep I collapsed—two coffins lay in the yard, and the sight broke me.

— “Last night I heard neighbors saying Kavya was ill. I called 108 repeatedly but the door was bolted from inside. I knocked and Mrs. Kamala said, ‘Wait.’ I tried Rohit too, but his phone was off…”

Silence fell and the courtyard grew heavy. Rohit bowed his head and gripped the altar’s edge.

At the morgue, the Chief Medical Superintendent said the autopsy would be immediate, prioritising “maternal death.” Dr. Tripathi looked at me kindly:

— “From the symptoms and blood on the bed, it seems postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). With oxytocin, IV fluids, and quick transfer, the outcome could have been different.”

My vision blurred. The nightly calls, the sobs behind a locked door… it all felt like a cold blade.

Sub-Inspector Verma registered a preliminary FIR under IPC 304A (de:ath by negligence), IPC 336/338 (dangerous acts), and Section 75 (cruelty to children) of the JJ Act related to the newborn’s d3ath. He also wrote to the SDM requesting a judicial inquiry into the unnatural postpartum d3ath.

Kathryn cried out: