AIIMS report confirms Sheena Bora was strangled to death

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) confirmed on Wednesday that Sheena Bora, daughter of former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, had died of strangulation.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) confirmed on Wednesday that Sheena Bora, daughter of former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, had died of strangulation.

Sheena Bora (left) and Indrani Mukerjea are seen in this combination photo prepared from Sheena's Facebook page. A forensic report of AIIMS has confirmed that Sheena died of strangulation.

Experts from its board of forensic medicine reportedly stated this in their final report to the CBI. “The cause of death has been confirmed as strangulation by the board,” a hospital source said on the condition of anonymity.

The burnt skeleton of Bora was handed to the AIIMS forensic medicine department by the CBI in mid-October, following which a team headed by department head Dr Sudhir Gupta performed tests for over a month.

The preliminary report, provided to the investigating agency on November 9, had not ruled out strangulation as a possible cause of death.

While Dr Gupta refused comment, hospital sources claimed that the team adopted the elimination process to derive the cause of death. It ruled out head injury as the cause of death as there was no skull fracture, and the possibility of firearm injury was also negated.

“In cases like these, where forensic experts get skeletal remains for examination, the history of the case becomes crucial to reach a conclusion. In this case, the team arrived at the conclusion that Bora was strangulated after minutely examining all aspects and pieces of evidence,” the source said.

They found that Bora’s skeleton – which didn’t bear a single fracture – had been exposed to an excessively high temperature, indicating an attempt to destroy the corpse using inflammable material.

Sheena was allegedly strangled in a car and then her body burnt and dumped in a forest in Raigad, about 84 kms from Mumbai.

Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her ex-driver Shyamvar Rai have been charge sheeted in the case. The victim was Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship.

Indrani’s husband, media honcho Peter Mukerjea has also been arrested in connection with the case and is in judicial custody till December 28.

Read | CBI grills Peter Mukerjea for 10 hours over role in Sheena’s murder

Read | Drugged Sheena Bora bit Rai’s thumb while being strangled: CBI