While this docuseries is underpinned by a brutal murder this seems to be the secondary focus, the real spotlight lands in the characters that make up this saga with Indrani Mukerjea taking the central position - just as she demands it. This is no shrinking violet or humble introspective woman but rather a driven, status-seeking manipulator who thinks nothing of rewriting the past to suit her current objective - claiming her dead actual walks & that she is the true victim in this case. People are clearly pawns for Indrani & she loves nothing more than being at the centre moving them all around - or in & out of - her life as she sees fit. The question posed by the series, the various journalists, the Indian media is did she, with the help of her co-accused, murder her eldest child to ensure that the secrets Sheena held about her Mother's ignominious past never reached the light of day? She seemed to be the only one of her children who Indrani had lost her power over, the others could be kept onside with either money or guilt over Motherly allegiance, whereas Sheena didn't need or depend on her Mother being in her life.
The series starts at the end - with her being jailed for the alleged murder of her first born - but then we get to see just how she ended up in this position, the early years, the people she stepped on & manipulated to claw her way to the highest strata of Indian society. The cast of characters is astounding, the many husbands - each a strategic means to an end by the titular accused - the children - who for the most part don't give a glowing recollection of their mother's past actions or character - & the people she has passed on her way up - who all use the same terms to describe her "manipulative" &/or "ambitious". It's clear that the consensus is that this is a woman who utilised the men she married to move up the classes & therefore the power structure underpinning Indian society.
What does come into focus as a salient question is the robustness & integrity of the Indian judicial system. It seems clear that anyone with enough money or power is able to buy the Police to the extent of hiding the discovery of a burnt body & then burying it. Coming from a country with one of the lowest levels of corruption worldwide this was astounding to me & left me wondering if this was able to happen with a victim's body how can the any part of Indian jurisprudence be believed? If there was one person who came across as a truthful victim of this saga - aside from the deceased of course - it would have to be Rahul, the fiancé of the murdered Sheena. Although he did not appear in the docuseries in person his love & life with Sheena prior to her disappearance was represented, as were his recorded conversations with his Father as he desperately tried to find out where Sheena was & why had just suddenly vanished one night. This is perhaps why he was positioned as the star witness in the prosecution's case against Indrani Mukerjea as he was the sole person in Sheena Bora's tragic life who persisted in asking, over the three years she had been missing, where she was & what had actually happened to her.
As the case is ongoing no conclusion was reached in terms of the verdict at the conclusion of the series but the assumption, given the 'evidence' to date & the public opinion, was that at the very least Indrani Mukerjea did indeed conspire or participate to end her daughter's life. Given what she likes to call simply 'coincidences' & the DNA verifying that the body discovered was indeed Sheena (despite Indrani STILL arguing that Sheena is alive in Kashmir) I cannot see how any other conclusion can be reached. Although given this woman's determination, self confidence & pathological narcissism I wouldn't be surprised if she is acquitted & walks as a free woman.
The series starts at the end - with her being jailed for the alleged murder of her first born - but then we get to see just how she ended up in this position, the early years, the people she stepped on & manipulated to claw her way to the highest strata of Indian society. The cast of characters is astounding, the many husbands - each a strategic means to an end by the titular accused - the children - who for the most part don't give a glowing recollection of their mother's past actions or character - & the people she has passed on her way up - who all use the same terms to describe her "manipulative" &/or "ambitious". It's clear that the consensus is that this is a woman who utilised the men she married to move up the classes & therefore the power structure underpinning Indian society.
What does come into focus as a salient question is the robustness & integrity of the Indian judicial system. It seems clear that anyone with enough money or power is able to buy the Police to the extent of hiding the discovery of a burnt body & then burying it. Coming from a country with one of the lowest levels of corruption worldwide this was astounding to me & left me wondering if this was able to happen with a victim's body how can the any part of Indian jurisprudence be believed? If there was one person who came across as a truthful victim of this saga - aside from the deceased of course - it would have to be Rahul, the fiancé of the murdered Sheena. Although he did not appear in the docuseries in person his love & life with Sheena prior to her disappearance was represented, as were his recorded conversations with his Father as he desperately tried to find out where Sheena was & why had just suddenly vanished one night. This is perhaps why he was positioned as the star witness in the prosecution's case against Indrani Mukerjea as he was the sole person in Sheena Bora's tragic life who persisted in asking, over the three years she had been missing, where she was & what had actually happened to her.
As the case is ongoing no conclusion was reached in terms of the verdict at the conclusion of the series but the assumption, given the 'evidence' to date & the public opinion, was that at the very least Indrani Mukerjea did indeed conspire or participate to end her daughter's life. Given what she likes to call simply 'coincidences' & the DNA verifying that the body discovered was indeed Sheena (despite Indrani STILL arguing that Sheena is alive in Kashmir) I cannot see how any other conclusion can be reached. Although given this woman's determination, self confidence & pathological narcissism I wouldn't be surprised if she is acquitted & walks as a free woman.