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“Yeh Zoom shaadi thoda weird hai… par cute bhi,” Ananya socha, as she adjusted her dupatta and looked at the laptop screen. Screen par New Delhi ka banjara terrace decorated tha: fairy lights, marigolds, a soft playlist in the background. Kunal, her college batchmate, was marrying Meher, a Canada-return investment banker. Do saal ka LDR finally marriage mein badal raha tha—postpone hota gaya, toh Zoom wedding hi fix ho gayi.
Shaadi mein 40 guests online the. Some had wine glasses, some were muted with joint families watching in pajamas. Arjun, common friend aur tech-setup wala dost, camera angle set kar raha tha. Zoom pe kisi ne mehndi, to kisi ne sherwani filter laga rakha tha. Sab normal lag raha tha.
Tab Ananya ne kuch suna. Ek sharp gasp, jaise kisi ne suddenly kuch shocking dekha ho. Screen pe kuch visible nahi tha, par sound aayi thi. “You heard that?” she messaged Priya on the side chat.
“Ha. Lag raha kisi ne chillaya… but kaun?”
Tab tak pandit bol chuka tha: “Kanya ko bulaya jaye.” Music chalu hua. Bride-entry ke liye sab excitement mein the. Meher camera pe aayi bhi, lekin thoda awkward expression tha uske face pe. Eyes red. Aur tabhi Zoom screen pe kuch se ek feed suddenly mute aur black ho gayi. Name tha: “Vikas Kapoor.”
Vikas Kapoor kaun tha?
Kisi ne notice nahi kiya… except Ananya. She remembered him vaguely — Meher ka ex-colleague, ek NRI VP, jiski vibe shady thi. Ek baar party mein aaya tha unke saath.
Shaadi complete ho gayi. Sabne clap kiya, kuch ne emotional messages diye. Zoom room close hua.
But teen din baad, DCP South Delhi ke paas ek report aayi: “Vikas Kapoor found dead. Suicide jaisa lagta hai. Video camera on tha, par sound muted. Timestamp: Shaadi ke beech ka time.”
Investigation shuru hua. Autopsy ne dikhaaya — overdose of an unknown compound, slow-acting paralytic agent. Aur video footage mein screen black thi… but speaker icon daba tha.
“Sound on tha!” Arjun exclaimed jab usne backup server logs dekhe. “Uske laptop se Zoom pe us waqt ek high-frequency transmission gaya tha. Kisi apps se disrupted nahi, kuch aur tha.”
Tech logs se pata chala that Vikas ne scheduled message rakha tha — ek deliberate audio interruption — kisi old surveillance recording ka distorted sound clip. Kuch purani ek-liner thi:
“You don’t get to marry her after what you did.”
Meher collapse kar gayi jab usne suna. “He recorded that? I thought he deleted it,” she whispered.
Real story dheere dheere saamne aayi. Vikas and Meher had a brief fling during her Canada stint. Tabhi Vikas ko guilt hone laga — kyunki Meher uski personal therapy recordings use karke ek research project mein contribute kar rahi thi, bina uske consent ke. Vikas ne threat diya tha exposé ka — not for love, but reputation.
Meher ne Arjun aur Kunal ko bataaya tha. Kunal furious tha, par wo sab kuch ignore karna chahta tha. Lekin Arjun — who had always loved Meher silently, had a different plan.
Zoom meeting ke tech access Arjun ke paas the. He monitored everything. Usne Vikas ke system pe ek remote-triggered malware install kiya tha kuch din pehle — disguised as a wedding invite PDF. Jab Vikas ne Zoom attend kiya, malware ne uske IV-connected sedatives ko overdose mein convert kar diya, uske smart-health kit ke through.
Arjun knew Vikas was unwell aur IV pe tha, because he had told Meher in a drunk call Arjun accidentally overheard.
That one scream, that one gasp — came from Vikas realising what’s happening… too late.
Ananya ne police ko yeh clue diya: “Scream ke pehle ek doosri device kisi aur ko detect kar paayi thi… ek feedback echo aaya tha, sirf ek second ka. Jaise kisi ne suna ho… aur ignore kiya ho.”
Investigation deep hui — aur sab clear ho gaya. Clue was never the victim. It was the technician. Arjun disappeared two days later. Leaving behind a final, encrypted voice message:
“Sometimes cleaning the path means removing obstacles. Even human ones.”
Case closed? Maybe. But Meher aur Kunal ke beech crack aa gaya. Trust nahi bacha. Shaadi ke baad sirf ek mahina chali.
Unhone Zoom account delete kar diya. Lekin kahaani ab bhi forums aur true crime blogs pe viral hai: ‘The Zoom Wedding That Silenced a Scream’.
