In
my school days remember this short story in English lesson ~ one by the eminent
Russian – Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1872. Titled - "God Sees the
Truth, But Waits" – it is a story of a man sent to prison for a
murder he didn't commit ~ the brilliant narrative took the form of a parable of
forgiveness. English translations were also
published under titles "The Confessed Crime" and "Exiled to Siberia".
This short story is of Ivan
Dmitrich Aksionov, a merchant living in a town in Russia, Vladimir.
One day he decides to go to a fair as a business venture, but his wife pleads
for him not to go because of a nightmare she had the previous night. Aksionov
doesn't consider his wife's dream and leaves for the fair. Aksionov meets
another merchant on his way, and the two decide to travel together. They check
into an inn and have a good time drinking, then they retire separately.
Next
morning Aksionov wakes early and leaves soon to be stopped and arrested
by Police of murdering the other merchant ~ evidence being a blood stained
knife found in the bag of Aksinov; he is sentenced and sent to Siberia. After
his trial flogging, his wife can finally visit him, and she sees that
Aksionov's hair has begun to go gray from the stress. Resigned to his fate,
Aksionov spends twenty-six years in Siberia, becoming a mediator of sorts
in the prison, and he is well respected by the other prisoners and also guards
alike. One day some new prisoners, one of them being Makar Semyonich, are
transferred to the prison. After overhearing several conversations, Aksionov is
convinced that Makar Semyonich is the man who committed the murder for which
Aksionov was blamed. Eventually Aksionov confronts Makar Semyonich, but he
denies committing the murder.
Later
he stays put in not telling the authorities of an escape attempt of Makar – eventually the
killer admits his wrong deed. Aksionov forgives Semyonich, and feels as
if a terrible weight had been lifted. Makar Semyonich confesses to the
authorities, and the process for Aksionov to be cleared is begun.
Unfortunately, Aksionov dies before he can reach home, but he dies in peace. This
story was adapted into television series, Katha Sagar (1986) directed by Shyam
Benegal. It was adapted into a CBS Radio Mystery Theatre program, All Things
Are Possible (1978) directed by Himan Brown. Simple, yet a resounding story
which will make the readers feel bad for the hero.
Away
in Spain, an innocent man has spent 12 years in prison. MailOnline reports that the killer of Sally Anne Bowman has sensationally
admitted brutally raping a woman in Spain for which another man has spent
nearly 12 years in prison. Murderer Mark Dixie, 44, is serving life for
murdering the 18-year-old model in South London in 2005. The former pub chef is
suspected of attacking three women on the Costa del Sol where he was living
before Sally Anne's murder.
In a
dramatic twist in the case last week, Dixie admitted raping one of the women in
Spain. MailOnline revealed last year how Dutchman Romano van der Dussen was
wrongly jailed for the Spanish attacks - yet he remains behind bars to this
day. It can also be revealed that new
DNA analysis, carried out this week at the Dutch National Forensic
Investigation Agency, proves beyond any doubt that Dixie carried out the
attack. Last week, Sally Anne's killer broke down in prison and confessed to
raping the Spanish woman in a drink and drug-fuelled rage in the seaside resort
of Fuengirola in August 2003. He made his confession to Romano’s lawyer Rachel
Imamkhan when she visited him at Durham.
Ms Imamkhan, legal director of PrisonLAW, interviewed Dixie while gathering
evidence for Romano’s appeal against his conviction for the three sex attacks.
Dixie’s
handwritten, three-page statement will be lodged with the Supreme Court in
Madrid as part of Romano’s appeal. In a statement, PrisonLAW, a law firm
specialising in overturning miscarriages of justice, said: 'Mark Dixie
confessed that in 2003 he was living in Fuengirola and he remembers committing
a rape that Romano van der Dussen has been convicted of. 'He also stated that
he is sorry that another person has been in prison for such a long period of
time for that rape. Dixie claims he does
not remember the attacks on the other two women.
For
the rape of that woman in Spain, man by name Romano Van der Dussen was convicted and has served 11 years behind bars. Dixie, from
Streatham, South London, was living in Fuengirola when the three Spanish women
were brutally attacked within two hours of each other in the early hours of
August 10 2003. Romano, now 42, was arrested three weeks later after one of the
victims picked him out from photographs in police files. Detectives had found
the attacker’s DNA on the first victim. But astonishingly Romano was charged
and prosecuted even though his DNA did not match that found on the victim. No
forensic or physical evidence linked Romano to the crimes but he was jailed for
15-and-a-half years. He remains behind bars and continues to protest his
innocence.
During
the trial prosecutors argued that all three attacks must have been carried out
by the same man. Shortly after the three women were attacked, Mark Dixie
returned to the UK from Spain. In September 2005, he raped and murdered Sally
Anne Bowman near her home in Croydon. The teenager was stabbed seven times and
raped while she lay dead or dying. Dixie was arrested the following year by
chance after having a fight in a pub – and was linked to Sally Anne’s murder
through his DNA. In February 2008, Dixie
was jailed for life and told he must serve a minimum of 34 years.
After
his arrest, Met Police detectives discovered Dixie had been living in Spain
from 2002 to 2003 and sent his DNA to Madrid as a matter of routine. Spanish
police ran it through their national Veritas database and came up with a match
for the Fuengirola attack. In 2011, Romano’s lawyers appealed his convictions
but the Spanish court demanded a fresh sample of Dixie’s DNA.
The story of Romano
Van der Dussen convicted and sentenced for a crime that he never committed,
makes a sad reading.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
17th Jun 2015.
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