Mumbai inmate’s death: Cops ‘soft’ on accused, hostile to us, say victim’s brothers

The brothers said Manjula hinted that there was rampant corruption in the Mumbai jail

Nearly a month after Byculla Jail inmate Manjula Shetye succumbed to injuries after allegedly being assaulted by jail officials, her brothers have said they were dissatisfied with the probe into her death.

Byculla Jail inmate Manjula Shetya was allegedly beaten to death by jail officials on June 23. (HT File Photo)

Sharad and Anant Shetye came to Mumbai from Pune to complete formalities related to her suspicious death. They said they were worried that the police were “going soft” on the accused and would not give them justice.

The crime branch, which is investigating the case, recorded their statements a few days ago. However, the brothers said the police had neither given them a copy of the statement nor asked for their signatures.

“The crime branch called us 15 days ago and recorded our statements on a computer. However, they did not give us a copy despite our insistence. What was even stranger was that they did not ask us to sign anything,” Anant said. Sharad said without their signatures, the police could modify their statements.

They said Manjula hinted that there was rampant corruption in the jail. “She told us of irregularities in the jail. However, she could not say much as a constable was present every time we spoke,” they said.

The brothers said the police were hostile towards them. “The first question they asked us was if we had seen the assault or if we were eye-witnesses. How can this be possible?” they asked.

They added that the police had not given them a copy of the postmortem report and other documents. They have written to the chief minister and the prime minister, seeking their intervention.