Grandmother had reached the village along with the police. When the jungle villagers saw the police with her, their chief came forward and said,
"Oh, sir, you all are here?"
The police officer replied, "Yes, we are here. What is going on here? And why have you tied them up like this?"
The chief answered, "Sir, these people were trying to go inside the jungle. You know that it is forbidden to go there. When we tried to stop them, they became aggressive, so we had to tie them up."
The officer said sternly, "Oh, so for this you will take the law into your own hands? Do you even know what punishment you can get for this?"
Hearing this, the villagers became frightened. On the police's orders, they immediately untied Father and Uncle.
Without wasting any time, Father said to the police, "Sir, my daughter Rati went into the jungle yesterday and hasn't returned yet. Please help us find her."
The police agreed to help and began searching.
Just then, Father received a call on his phone—it was Mother, calling from a villager's phone. She said,
"Hello… Rama's father…"
"Yes, what happened? Where are you?"
"I crossed the jungle and reached another village. I couldn't find Rati anywhere. Are you all okay?"
Her voice sounded choked and tearful. Father then explained everything to her—that they were safe and were searching for Rati in the jungle with the police.
Meanwhile, the people who had taken Rati with them noticed the baby with her—and realized something shocking.
One of them said, "This baby… she is dead."
Another man replied in shock, "What?! She is dead?"
"Yes." Then those people carefully examine the dead baby and say,
"This child has been offered as a sacrifice to someone.
It seems this girl must have picked up the sacrificed baby from somewhere.
But who is she?"
They search Rati's bag thoroughly and find Mother's phone, which Rati had brought with her, along with her school ID card—because Rati had thrown all her books in the jungle to make space for the baby in her bag.
The baby had been fed dhatura milk, because of which she died from a heart attack. Meanwhile, Rati was still unconscious due to the fever. So, they place the dead baby inside a hollow of a tree and cover it with मिट्टी (soil), burying her there.
Then, using Mother's phone, they call Father.
When Father receives a call from Mother's phone, he says, "Hello, Rama's mother?"
They reply, "No, no… we found this phone with a little girl. She has a very high fever. We have given her medicine, but she hasn't regained consciousness yet."
Then they tell Father the location. Father immediately leaves with the police to reach that place. On the way, he calls the number from which Mother had called earlier and says,
"Rati has been found. I'm going to bring her. You come home quickly."
Hearing this, Mother wastes no time and starts heading back home immediately.
When Father reaches Rati, he quickly lifts her into his arms and gently caresses her. He thanks the people who saved her. Those people then tell Father about the dead baby:
"Look, that baby was a sacrificed child and had already died, so we performed her last rites."
Father does not say much about this, nor does he tell the police that the jungle villagers were responsible for the baby's death. He does not want to create any conflict. So, he simply thanks them and leaves with Rati, heading back home.
The police leave from there and head back to their police station. Meanwhile, when Father returns to their settlement with Rati, Grandmother, and Uncle, the people of their community are already waiting for them.
As soon as they see them safe and sound, they feel relieved and happy. Soon, they gather at Rati's house and start talking noisily, trying to find out what had happened.
Rama is very happy to see Rati, but Rati is still unconscious.
Father gently lays Rati down in Mother's room and tells Rama to sit there and take care of her. Then he comes downstairs, where Grandmother, Uncle, and the rest of the people are gathered, talking among themselves and trying to understand everything that had happened.
Mother was still on the way, but she was walking as if wheels had been attached to her feet. She just wanted to reach Rati somehow and hug her tightly.
If she had wings, she would have flown straight to her.