桑托什结婚两年，她的警察丈夫才刚在一场暴动中殉职，她随即就被狠心的婆婆逐出家门。政府让她享有丧偶优惠，得以继承丈夫在警察部队中的职位，成为一名女警。桑托什毫无任何优势，甚至得周旋于一群滥用公权、争功诿过的警察同仁之中…
　　当一名低种姓的年轻女孩遭到谋杀，尸体还被扔进了乡村的井里。奉命着手调查此案的她，必须负责将女孩尸体背到太平间。只因为没有任何同事想被低种姓的人玷污。桑托什的认真负责与正义感，让高级女督察莎玛印象深刻，亦师亦友的两人于是联手办案。同时得面对来自社会深层，包括阶级、性别、信仰、种姓制度等问题，以及警察执法时的各种弊端…

　　As bacteriologist Lena (38) drives past a burning car, she hears a scream of a dying woman. Lena does not tell her boyfriend how much the incident distresses her, just as she does not talk about the stillbirth she recently had. Instead, she throws herself into her work, intrudes into the life of the deceased, begins an affair with the widower and gradually takes on the role of mother to their son. Her persistent insomnia causes her to lose control between dreams and reality. Finally she accepts the help of a whisperer and then finds her own way to cope with her loss

　　玛丽亚是一位前途无量的青年作家，也是一位初为人母的母亲，她无意间发现了一则令人不寒而栗的新闻:一名法国妇女在浴缸中溺死了她10个月大的双胞胎。这一令人毛骨悚然的行为引燃了玛丽亚的想象力，成为她的一个心结。她为什么要这么做?从那一刻起，杀婴案便如一团阴影笼罩在玛丽亚的生活中，挥之不去。