Madrakshash Chapter 4

The story behind Badgaon was that it was a king's estate. There was a group of palaces built in a large circle and inside the circle, there was land as big as a medium size village. The king held various amusement events inside it. Other than that, the area was not suitable for cultivation. People were living a hand-to-mouth life.

 Then there was an old castle which was situated just a little away Southwest from the circle. People didn't go there. It was considered haunted and possessed. But the interesting part was that the king deliberately spread this rumour so that nobody dared to visit the castle. It was king's prison. The king held his most ruthless and ferocious opponents there. There were dark and disease infested cells where the prisoners were tortured for the king's amusement. It was called " Pisacha Durg" or the fort of demons. The prisoners were tortured at night and their cries echoed all around. Their painful agonies further convinced people that the castle was really possessed by Pisachas, the demons.

 With the independence of the country, the kings were stripped off of their titles and estates. The government took over Badgaon estate and even the king didn't feel any remorse over it's loss. It was a barren land built for his amusement and he had had enough of amusements. The then leaders soon found out the secret behind Pisacha Durg. A ruthless first generation leader remodelled the castle into a state prison. She walked into the footsteps of her predecessor and confined every faint opposing voice down to the cells. Her successors continued the traditions and a new generation of opposing voices found their way to the castle. They replaced the old tortured -beyond-reparation voices. There were journalists, officers, doctors,activists, spies, teachers, reformers etc. All of them were tortured to the extent that many of them went insane. Many of them couldn't even recall the cause they stood for. Like the way the king used to amuse at their tortures, the politicans also derived the luxury without breaking the traditions. There seemed an immense pleasure which was derived from the hysteric shrieks of the person people hate the most. Seeing your opposition getting tortured, a gust of blood skyrocket in a pulse of a second.

The prisoners were still there when the fair was being organised. Nobody looked for them because they were considered dead a long time ago. They weren't a threat since torture wrecked their souls. They were just some person who got their regular dose of torture and they made peace with the fact. No one among them saw sunlight in years.They forgotten everything including their names. Many of them were people of very good nature, wise and sensible. Many of them were working on some of the best professions. All of them spoke out against the then incumbent government in particular and society in general. They believed that they were doing the right thing. They believed that justice must be served at all costs. They found their justice. They had lost all faith in justice and virtues.