As preparations are being made to bury the body, some unknown Being comes on the aged Dasegowda. He begins trembling all over. ‘Is it Ooramma?’ someone asks in a loud whisper. Nobody answers. There is always an unsaid fear when Dasegowda does these things, that it is not Ooramma but the gumma who has possessed him.

Krishnegowda coolly asks the question everyone is burning to: ‘Who are you?’ Bhaskaraiah frantically makes notes. What does one ask a man who has been possessed? What a research possibility. He could base his thesis entirely on just this one incident.

‘I? You dare ask who I am?’ roars the Being in Dasegowda’s body. ‘All of you have sinned. He, Rajegowda, has sinned the most. He should not be buried. Burn him.’ Dasegowda’s body is doing weird things, shaking so hard that even the grief-benumbed Puttaswamegowda becomes afraid that he will die of sheer exertion.

‘Whoever you are,’ says Puttaswamegowda quietly, ‘tell us why my son should not be buried with all his ancestors.’

‘He has sinned,’ roars the Being again.

All the villagers nod this time. Didn’t he go after a low-caste woman? Leaving behind his beautiful wife?

Dasegowda confirms their suspicions. He says, ‘You must also burn his wife with him. There is sin in her too!’

As the villagers absorb this, drawing their own conclusions, Dasegowda’s body goes slack. It shakes, stops, suddenly jerks again. With a last burst of energy, the Being says, ‘If you don’t burn her, the entire village will be cursed…’

Shaking with fear, the villagers gather around. Gumma or Ooramma, it doesn’t matter who it was. In such a situation, they are equally dangerous. The villagers tell the grief-stricken father that Rajegowda’s body should be burnt, and Honni with him. The usually eloquent Puttaswamegowda says nothing. He is older now, and numb over the death of his son. The village elders rush around. Wood is gathered. Rajegowda’s body is prepared.

The older women of the village, meanwhile, hold Honni down and get her ready. Ajji, sitting silently in a corner of the house, says nothing. Honni looks around like a trapped animal. What is happening? Nobody has ever been burnt alive in their village! Only Kamadeva and Ramani dolls are burnt. How can they make her do this?

Her brother Venkatsamy and parents have gone off to the market town. They don’t even know what is happening. By the time they come back, she will be dead! She prays to every god she knows. Nothing happens. As she is brought out, Honni looks around, desperate for help. In a white seere, her hair unbraided, with no jewellery save her anklets, she looks more beautiful than ever.