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Teacher’s death: Locals demand CBI probe into case, second autopsy at AIIMS
Precautionary measure amid public outrage after woman’s father rejects police probe suggesting she died by suicide, refuses to cremate body on Tuesday, almost a week after she was found dead.
The residents of Dhani Laxman village in Bhiwani on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Loharu sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Manoj Kumar and urged the government to conduct autopsy of deceased from AIIMS, Delhi, along with a request that case be handed over to CBI.
They announced 27*7 sit in at Dhani Laxman village until their demands are met and urged the people from other villagers to join them. Heavy police force has been deployed outside the village.
The state government on Tuesday also suspended mobile internet services, bulk SMS and dongle services in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts in view of the tension and public outrage as the family rejected the findings and refused to cremate the body.
The state home department order said the step was being taken to stop the spread of misinformation on social media platforms and to check the mobilisation of demonstrators who could cause loss of life and damage to property by indulging in violence.
On Monday evening after the police made the findings based on the autopsy report, the Bhiwani district administration representatives held talks with a committee formed by villagers to hold discussions on behalf of the victim’s family and they agreed to cremate the woman’s body on Tuesday. The woman’s father expressed satisfaction with police findings but he took a U-turn on Tuesday and accused the committee of mounting pressure on him to conduct the last rites of his daughter, who was found dead in a field near a canal at Singhani village on August 13.
Talking to reporters at his house, he said: “We are not happy with the autopsy report and police findings. I urge people to join the fight for justice for my daughter.”
Girl’s father said that if the suicide note was recovered the same day, why government transferred Bhiwani SP and suspended five cops for negligence. “We suspect foul play,” he added.
He also said that the area from where the body was found is regularly used by farmers to go from canal side but still no one noticed the body for two days. “ No one spotted her there. We suspect she was killed somewhere and her body was thrown there,” he added
Interacting with media in Bhiwani, Rohtak range inspector general of police Y Puran Kumar said that there were no acid marks on the woman’s face and her body parts were not missing. “Police is investigating this case on scientific measures and that she had killed self by consuming poison. The woman was seen leaving a pesticide shop and her name was also registered in the shopkeeper’s daily diary. The suicide note was also recovered on August 13 when her body was found and we have not shared it early as the investigation was underway,” he added.
Security stepped up
Soon, a large number of people gathered at Dhani Laxman village and attended a panchayat. The villagers announced they would continue their fight and asked the state government to ensure justice to the woman’s family. Villagers in Charkhi Dadri district expressed solidarity with the woman’s family and planned to hold a dharna.
Villagers from nearby areas were prevented from reaching Dhani Laxman village as police were deployed on connecting roads. Additional police force were requisitioned from Panipat district.
The angered crowd blocked the roads connecting to the village by cutting trees and preventing police and administrative officials from entering the village. The local residents said that they will not allow the administration to enter the village and perform the rites of the victim woman. The woman’s body was kept at Bhiwani’s civil hospital and the 21-member protesters committee, which was holding talks with the administration, remained away from protest as locals and the woman’s family accused them of colluding with administration.
Farmer leader Suresh Koth said that the people of the village should lead the protest and the entire state will follow them. “If you give a call, the entire state will be brought to standstill. The police should show CCTV footage of the nursing college where the woman went to enquire about the admission process on August 11, besides providing her phone call details,” he added.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded a CBI investigation into the death. Though the teacher’s body was found on August 13, she had been missing since August 11 after leaving school, purportedly to enquire about admission at a nearby nursing college.
A murder case was registered by the police on the complaint of the woman’s family.
Suicide note found: Police
On Monday, the emergence of a suicide note turned the investigation on its head.
A police officer, however, said that the note was found on the same day the body was discovered and the woman’s family knew about it all along.
Bhiwani superintendent of police Sumit Kumar said the suicide note was found near the body in a bag, which also had her Aadhaar and other documents. “The handwriting matches (with that of the woman),” the SP said over the phone.
He said there was proof she bought insecticide. “We found through video surveillance that she had gone to an insecticide shop. There is a record in the register of the seller that the woman had taken this quantity of insecticide and paid a particular amount for the same to the seller,” the officer said. “The next part of the investigation was whether the insecticide was consumed or not. We sent the viscera report to the forensic sciences laboratory along with other samples. There were numerous samples given by the coroner to us,” the SP said, adding “In the viscera sample, the presence of insecticide has been confirmed in the body.”
“So, there is self-purchase, there is a suicide note, there is poison in the body,” he said.
According to the police, Manisha wrote in the suicide note, “Mummy, papa you did a lot for me, but you were upset with me. I was not wrong. Also I did nothing wrong. I want to fulfil my parents’ dream. I wanted to be a nursing officer. I don’t want to be a financial burden. I am sorry if I have hurt you.”
Two autopsies, one of which was done at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, also unravelled the mystery behind the lacerations on the face, earlier claimed to be a slit mark. The PGIMS confirmed she was not raped and also there was no cut on her throat.
“In the first post-mortem report, the doctor mentioned that these wounds are lacerated wounds with a gnawing effect. Gnawing is when any scavenger eats the body. The doctor has very clearly mentioned that these are the scavenging animal bites, and he has used the word gnawing effect. A portion of the neck was missing. Eyes were not there, face skin was not there. However, no vital organ below the neck is missing,” the SP said.
Earlier, the woman’s family accused the police of delaying the registration of a complaint in the matter. The woman’s father alleged that the Loharu police had initially refused to lodge a report on August 11, suggesting that his daughter might have run away or gone on a trip and would return in a few days. It was only the following day that the complaint was registered.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday ordered the transfer of the then SP and suspension of five police officials from the district in connection with the death. Sumit Kumar assumed the charge of SP two days ago.
Congress will raise demand for CBI probe in Parliament: Deepender
Hooda was in Karnal to attend the reception of former Youth Congress president and Karnal Lok Sabha candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja and other social programs. Speaking to media, the lawmaker said that the family of the teacher is demanding a CBI inquiry, so for the satisfaction of the victim’s family, the inquiry should be handed over to the CBI.
