<p>Hubballi: Postmortem of Ritesh Kumar of Bihar origin, the accused in torture and murder of a five-year-old girl and who was shot dead by the police, was conducted on Tuesday. Meanwhile, police have continued the efforts to trace his acquaintances like his relatives and friends.</p><p>As per the Supreme Court guidelines related to the death due to police firing, the case has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID team collected information and documents from local police, and visited the place of police firing and Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMCRI) mortuary where the postmortem was conducted on Tuesday.</p><p>To trace the relatives, friends or other acquaintances of the deceased, police have shared the details of the deceased in different languages with police in different places. A team is also sent to Bihar, as the primary investigation found that he was from Patna area in Bihar.</p><p><strong>Doctors’ opinion</strong></p><p>After the postmortem, the body has been kept at KMCRI mortuary. If the deceased’s relatives are not traced within a few days, the body would be buried, but only with the doctors’ expert opinion, so that it can be exhumed later if the relatives come, said Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.</p><p>Inquest of the body was conducted in the presence of judicial magistrate, and the Supreme Court guidelines are being followed properly, he added.</p><p>After 35-year-old Ritesh Kumar allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered the girl in the limits of Ashok Nagar Police Station on April 13 (Sunday), protests had erupted. Police had taken the accused to an area near Rayanal bridge on the outskirts of the City, to collect more information. After he reportedly assaulted police in a bid to escape, police had fired in his leg and back. He was declared brought dead at the KMCRI, and a case about this incident was registered with Old Hubballi Police Station. The girl child’s cremation was held after the postmortem on Monday.</p><p><strong>‘Give more compensation’</strong></p><p>Belagavi MP and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday visited the house of the deceased girl, to console her parents. He also suggested the chief minister and the deputy chief minister to strengthen the administration and law and order situation to prevent the repetition of incidents like rape and murder.</p><p>Lauding the police for firing at the accused, he urged the state government to increase the compensation for the family of the girl from already announced Rs 10 lakh to at least Rs 25 lakh, as the family is poor.</p><p>“Such incidents are taking place at several places in the state as the administration has collapsed, and law and order situation is deteriorating. The state government should consider this incident as a warning, and should improve law and order situation, and give a strong message that stern action would be taken against those who involve in such acts,” he said.</p><p>Expressing doubt that the accused might have consumed drugs, Shettar said youth are falling prey to drug menace in several cities in the state also. The source of drugs supply should be eradicated and better awareness should be created among people, he added.</p>
<p>Hubballi: Postmortem of Ritesh Kumar of Bihar origin, the accused in torture and murder of a five-year-old girl and who was shot dead by the police, was conducted on Tuesday. Meanwhile, police have continued the efforts to trace his acquaintances like his relatives and friends.</p><p>As per the Supreme Court guidelines related to the death due to police firing, the case has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID team collected information and documents from local police, and visited the place of police firing and Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMCRI) mortuary where the postmortem was conducted on Tuesday.</p><p>To trace the relatives, friends or other acquaintances of the deceased, police have shared the details of the deceased in different languages with police in different places. A team is also sent to Bihar, as the primary investigation found that he was from Patna area in Bihar.</p><p><strong>Doctors’ opinion</strong></p><p>After the postmortem, the body has been kept at KMCRI mortuary. If the deceased’s relatives are not traced within a few days, the body would be buried, but only with the doctors’ expert opinion, so that it can be exhumed later if the relatives come, said Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.</p><p>Inquest of the body was conducted in the presence of judicial magistrate, and the Supreme Court guidelines are being followed properly, he added.</p><p>After 35-year-old Ritesh Kumar allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered the girl in the limits of Ashok Nagar Police Station on April 13 (Sunday), protests had erupted. Police had taken the accused to an area near Rayanal bridge on the outskirts of the City, to collect more information. After he reportedly assaulted police in a bid to escape, police had fired in his leg and back. He was declared brought dead at the KMCRI, and a case about this incident was registered with Old Hubballi Police Station. The girl child’s cremation was held after the postmortem on Monday.</p><p><strong>‘Give more compensation’</strong></p><p>Belagavi MP and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday visited the house of the deceased girl, to console her parents. He also suggested the chief minister and the deputy chief minister to strengthen the administration and law and order situation to prevent the repetition of incidents like rape and murder.</p><p>Lauding the police for firing at the accused, he urged the state government to increase the compensation for the family of the girl from already announced Rs 10 lakh to at least Rs 25 lakh, as the family is poor.</p><p>“Such incidents are taking place at several places in the state as the administration has collapsed, and law and order situation is deteriorating. The state government should consider this incident as a warning, and should improve law and order situation, and give a strong message that stern action would be taken against those who involve in such acts,” he said.</p><p>Expressing doubt that the accused might have consumed drugs, Shettar said youth are falling prey to drug menace in several cities in the state also. The source of drugs supply should be eradicated and better awareness should be created among people, he added.</p>
