Many questions around Ravi's death

Was the IAS officer’s death a result of some communication which triggered the victim’s action?People in Karnataka and different parts of the country are stunned over the recent death of young IAS officer D K Ravi, known as an honest and fearless officer, and one having deep societal concerns. The death, coming soon after his reported action against big realtors, has created shock waves and made people believe that it is an act of vendetta by vested interests.

Reportedly, ever since Ravi joined the government service, he initiated a number of measures to help the poor and downtrodden and that in doing so, took on the powerful and the mighty. The general belief is that his death is not a suicide but a premeditated murder. According to media reports, on the day of his death, he went to his office as usual and soon thereafter came to his flat in his official car. His wife, who had gone out, came to the flat in the evening, and noticed his body hanging from a ceiling fan.

Hanging is defined as an act of suspending one’s body from an overhead point like a fan or hook and jumping from a height. The neck is tied to a noose which can be a cloth, a rope or a belt. After tying both ends of the noose, the victim jumps from a height. This sudden drop tightens the noose around the neck causing death.  If the height exceeds six feet the neck breaks.

In all cases of death due to hanging, a deep ligature mark is found around the neck corresponding to the shape of the rope or cloth. Apart from this, the face and neck of the victim will be congested with blood and appears dark red. Body fluids and faecal matter may come out before death and the body will struggle violently.

The cause of death will be asphyxia which may be combined with venous congestion. The manner of death in hanging could be suicidal, accidental and homicidal. An accidental hanging is ruled out in this case for obvious reasons.

In a suicidal hanging, the victim handles the ligature material to tie the knot to his neck. Because of this, the fibres of the material would be present on the palm of both the hands of the victim. This can be established in laboratory by comparing it with the ligature material found at the scene. Usually, in suicidal hanging, the ligature mark will be ‘V’ shaped.

Homicidal hanging

In a homicidal hanging, a person is killed by some means and his body is hung to simulate it as suicidal. In such cases, the body has to be lifted at least by two to three persons to be hung from a fan. This may cause marks on the body.

The forensic pathologist can distinguish whether the ligature mark on the neck of the victim is ante mortem or post mortem. He would also see asphyxia triage like bluish discolouration of lips and finger tips, intense congestion of internal organs including lungs, and conclude whether the death is due to hanging or otherwise.

A close examination of the scene of offence, examination of neighbours and security guards of the apartment block, examining the footage  of CCTV camera in the premises, examination of the cloth used for hanging etc will all give clues whether the death is homicidal.

A statement has been made that the death is suicidal. If the forensic pathologist has felt that the victim committed suicide, the question that arises is why a bright young officer who was not afraid of taking on influential persons should end his life in such a way. There can be no doubt that a strong reason existed for the officer to take such a drastic step. It is for the investigating officer (IO) to concentrate on this aspect.

What is crucial to unearth is why the victim came back to his residence during office hours? Was it as a result of some communication either through phone or letter or in person which triggered the victim’s action? This can be established by examining the driver of the official car, the staff members in victim’s office as well as victim’s family members and relatives and also verifying the call records on the victim’s cell phones.

Once the IO is able to establish the compelling reasons for the victim to take his life, it can be easily determined whether the death was due to personal reasons or due to any type of threat or intimidation.  Based on this, a final opinion can be arrived whether hanging was due to someone’s threat or coercion, or was it due to personal reasons.
Whatever the agency that investigates this case of unnatural death, must conduct the probe in a fairly quick and transparent manner to provide answers to the numerous questions that the public are posing.

(The writer is retired Director General of Police, Karnataka)