Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Karam teaches his children to believe in the justice of the Indian courts, though he privately understands that it all comes down to bribes. Still, he sees the courts as one place in Indian public institutions where a Muslim might make his voice heard. Fortunately, the Husain case is assigned to the Fast Track Sessions Court, rather than being relegated to the normal system which can take up to ten years for a verdict and cost ruinous amounts of money in the process. This trial only considers Karam and Kehkashan’s involvement in Fatima’s burning, as Abdul will be tried as a minor.

Kehkashan, and Karam take the bus to the courthouse in a Mumbai neighborhood called Sewri. The judge is impatient for the trial to start, as she has over 35 trials going simultaneously and at least nine hearings to hold today. Kehkashan and Karam sit on a crowded bench of the accused as the evidence of their case is parceled out. The prosecution calls many “witnesses” from Annawadi who hadn’t actually seen the event. Kehkashan sits in her burqa and sweats, grateful that no one can see her ashamed face.

The special executive officer who took their statements right after the event asks again for a bribe to ensure that no new evidence of malicious intent appears. Karam refuses, preferring to pay his lawyer and trust that the judge will see the truth. Priya is the first Annawadian called to the stand, which worries Kehkashan because Priya and Fatima were close. But Priya tells the truth on the stand, saying that she hadn’t seen the actual event but that Fatima started many fights in Annawadi. Another witness whose evidence was rumored to be damning for the Husains also says that he wasn’t even in Annawadi during the incident. Kehkashan begins to feel more optimistic.

The trial drags on until April, with short hearings on random days spread over the weeks. The judge becomes fed up with her stenographers’ poor Hindi skills and eventually just starts telling the stenographer what to record in the official record. It becomes clear that the judge considers this whole affair a petty problem not worth her time. But Kehkashan and Karam are still facing the possibility of ten years in jail. They lean forward in their seats, trying to hear what is happening in the court room over the sound of traffic in the street.

Fatima’s husband finally takes the stand. Kehkashan remembers how the Husains had celebrated the holiest Muslim celebration, Eid, with Fatima’s family this year. Despite this appearance of solidarity, Fatima’s husband is angry that his late wife’s word is being questioned in the trial. He wants to blame someone for his wife’s death, and the Husains are the easiest target. He doesn’t care if the Husains are innocent, since he is concerned that his daughters will grow up motherless. He removed them from the orphanage after seeing bruises on their arms, and he now brings them to the trial to see their mother avenged.

Fatima’s husband is sworn in, but he quickly becomes flustered at the prosecutor’s questions. After stumbling through his name and address, Fatima’s husband insists that Fatima told him on her deathbed that the Husains had beat her with a large stone. Fatima’s husband is so elated at getting this “evidence” out that he doesn’t notice that the defense brings up Fatima’s two previous attempts to burn herself with kerosene after the death of their youngest daughter.

The next witness is Fatima’s friend Cynthia. The Husains refused to pay Cynthia not to lie about the fight right after the incident and have been dreading her vengeance for months. Cynthia prepares her appearance carefully the day of her court appearance and readies herself to bring down the Husain family that she has been jealous of for so long.

Yet when the judge calls Cynthia forward, it’s not like the movie trials that Cynthia has seen. The prosecutor does not give her enough time to tell her made-up story about how she tried to save Fatima. During the cross-examination, Cynthia gets tripped up in her own lies and the judge throws out her testimony. Cynthia yells at the court to wait, but the judge pays no attention. Closing arguments for the Husain case will come in two weeks.