A marriage that never saw the light of day

by Amanda Abalakada

Curly haired and hefty-looking Nandana, who had no proper education came from a very poor family. Because of his lack of eduction he did not get a god job but was always on the look-out to marry a beautiful woman. He was dreaming of leading a life with a beautiful woman and spent his time looking out for likely places where he could spot a beautiful woman.

One fine day, quite by accident while waiting to board a bus to a relative's house, he spotted a beautiful girl clad in a blue skirt and white blouse. The clothes hugged her beautiful curves and now there was no turning back for Nandana. He somehow wanted to strike a friendship with the girl who was in the company of her mother. He was determined, come hell or high water that he would pursue the beauty and marry her.

Nandana boarded the same bus that the mother and daughter boarded and was keeping a close watch on the girl. Fortune was on his side and he got a seat next to the beauty. “What is your name”, was his first question as soon as he placed himself on the seat, but he did not get a response. She ignored him and looked the other way. Nandana was not put off by the negative response because he had made up his mind that he would somehow get acquainted with the beauty.

The more he looked at her, the more he wanted her. He beautiful red lips flashed a slight smile when Nandana kept staring at her. She was a trifle embarrassed but Nandana fathomed that the girl was in favour of acquainting herself with the stranger.

This was a golden opportunity for Nandana and he struck up a cordial conversation with his immediate ‘neighbour’ . He found out that her name was Lakmali and that she was an only child.

Overjoyed

Nandana was overjoyed because then he would not encounter any undue pressure from other family members. Lakmali's mother who was seated in the centre of the bus was oblivious to what was going on between her daughter and Nandana.

They then came to the end of their journey and were just about to alight when Nandana realised that he had not got a contact number from Lakmali.

Lakmali was not prepared to communicate with Nandana in the presence of her mother and pretended to ignore Nandana but discreetly gave her contact number to Nandana, who treasured it like gold. Nandana was impatient to speak to Lakmali on the phone and struck up a relationship with the girl unknown to her mother.

As time went by her motherly instinct told her that her daughter was involved with someone and she confronted her daughter. Lakmali's mother demanded that Lakmali should tell the truth so that she could give her the go-ahead for the relationship.

Lakmali was hesitant at the beginning but later divulged the truth and said that she wanted to marry the man with whom she was having a relationship and that his name was Nandana.

Her mother then made arrangements to officially meet Nandana and allay her fears about the man. Nandana then visited Lakmali's home with a relative and spoke to the mother and other members of her family. However, Lakmali's mother was not in favour because Nandana had no basic education and she feared her daughter would suffer at his hands.

Tussle

Now there was a tussle between mother and daughter because Lakmali was sure that Nandana was her soul mate and her mother was putting a spoke into the relationship. After some time her mother gave into her and agreed to the marriage.

Lakmali came from a family that was reasonably well off and so they had arranged a reception after the poruwa ceremony.

At the reception liquor was flowing freely and Nandana could not stop himself.

He drank like a fish and was the worse for liquor by the time the reception was halfway through. The mother straight-away sensed that there was trouble brewing round the corner and there was nothing she could do about it at this juncture.

After the wedding ceremony, the couple moved out and lived away from the family. Lakmali conceived soon after and was heavy with child when Nandana began to physically abuse her. She even had to stay in hospital for a few days because Nandana had hit her and the shot had struck her stomach.

Lakmali did not inform her mother about the turn of events. She suffered all the insults and hoped that this man would change after the birth of the child and take care of her and her child. Suddenly Lakmali got into labour much before her due date and had no one to turn to for any assistance.

A neighbour took her to hospital because Nandana was drinking with his pals in a house nearby and was not in a physical state to take his wife to hospital. After a while Lakmali delivered a lovely girl who had her mother's looks but had inherited her father's curly hair.

Nandana did not even come to hospital to visit the mother and child.

When Lakmali's mother came to see the new born in hospital, she inquired after Nandana and Lakmali gave her a vague reply. Lakmali's mother sensed that all was not hunky dory and that Lakmali was hiding something from her but she did not want to pursue the matter she thought to herself that with time everything will fall into place. She pretended that she believed every word that Lakmali had told her and had left for home after showering the baby with gifts.

Lakmali came home with her newborn and had to attend to all the household duties all by herself because Nandana was the worse for liquor day in and day out and began attacking and assaulting her. She then decided once and for all that she will go back to her home and tell them the true story and the turn of events.

She packed clothes for herself and her daughter and left for home in Nagoda. When she reached her house she was thoroughly exhausted and she relayed to the family the turn of events and that she could not bear the harassment any more and had decided to leave Nandana.

Missing

Now Nandana had come to his house in Kuliyapitiya and found his wife and daughter missing. He made a beeline to his mother-in-law's house in Nagoda.

He was sure his wife had taken off to her mother's house. He left on his motorbike and reached his destination in double quick time. He entered the house calling for Lakmali but she had hidden herself and did not come out fearing the worse. She sensed that Nandana was in a foul mood and would attack her.

Then when Nandana realised that Lakmali would not confront him, he turned to Lakmali's mother and asked her for a glass of water and when her mother gave it to him, he emptied the contents and poured fuming acid into the empty glass and attempted to fling the contents at them.

Somehow Lakmali's mother aunt and father overpowered Nandana and then there was a free for all. Nandana succumbed to injuries he sustained in the fracas.According to the police, Lakmali's mother and her stepmother lodged a complaint with the Nagoda police about four hours after the incident. OIC, IP Sumeda Wimalagunaratne, Crime OIC SI Pushpakumara and a police team then rushed to the scene of the crime.

Police admitted Lakmali's father to the Nagoda hospital because he had sustained minor injuries in the fracas.

- The names are fictitious