No post-mortem report, probe into Jain girl’s death hits a wall

HYDERABAD: Probe into the death of a 13-year-old Jain girl after 68 days of fasting has ground to a halt as Hyderabad police say they cannot proceed in the absence

HYDERABAD: Probe into the death of a 13-year-old Jain girl after 68 days of fasting has ground to a halt as Hyderabad police say they cannot proceed in the absence of physical clues or a post-mortem report.

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Officers say Aradhana Samdariya, who died after performing the Jain ritual of tapasya, was cremated within hours of her death on October 3, six days before a police case was registered following complaints from child-rights organisations. “There is no possibility of any post-mortem and it is difficult for us to ascertain the actual reason behind the death,” Secunderabad market police inspector M Mattaiah said.

The death triggered national outrage and put the spotlight on the controversial ritual that allegedly took the girl’s life, with many child-rights activists saying the parents should be held responsible for coercing their daughter.

But Jain leaders have pushed back at the criticism, saying they were being unfairly targeted and their practices were harmless.

Hospital records show the girl was brought dead and the cause of death was cardiac arrest. “This can happen for any reason. Parents and community leaders say Aradhana died two days after the completion of the fast, so there is no reason to believe that the immediate cause of death was only fasting, though it could be one of the reasons,” Mattaiah said.

He also dismissed the possibility of arresting Lakshmichand Samdariya and his wife Manisha, Aradhana’s parents. “We don’t think there is any need to arrest them just based on the complaint. We are taking legal opinion before proceeding as it also involves religious practices of the Jain community,” he said.

In their representation to Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahender Reddy, several Jain associations under the banner of Sri Jain Seva Sangh said Section 304 (2) of the IPC — culpable homicide — was not applicable to Aradhana’s parents as they had not forced her to fast and had no intention of killing her. “No parents want their daughter to die. It can be treated as an accidental death or an act of god,” association leader Vinod Kumar Kimti said.

The Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Association said it was receiving e-mails and calls from the Jain community and some purported Vishva Hindu Parishad members, asking it to withdraw the case or face dire consequences.

“I have received at least 50 mails from various Jain groups, mostly from Maharashtra, in the past few days, demanding that I withdraw the case. Some of them even threatened me with dire consequences if I do not do so,” association honorary president P Achyuta Rao told HT.