JOIN USAdditional SP, three doctors arrested in Assam in Adivasi girl's murder and molestation case
The CID of Assam police arrested a suspended additional Superintendent of Police and three doctors of a government hospital in the past 48 hours for allegedly trying to shield an SSB jawan, who had allegedly molested and murdered his 13-year-old domestic help in June.
The body of the Adivasi girl was found hanging inside the house of the accused, Krishna Kamal Baruah, in Dhula in North Assam's Darrang district. Police and the accused claimed that the girl had committed suicide and her body was buried after conducting a post-mortem. Family members of the accused, however, suspected it to be a rape and murder case and even alleged that police pressured them not to file a written complaint against the accused.
Following the family's allegations, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma along with DGP Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta visited the victim's family in August and ordered a CID inquiry. Following Sarma's visit, Darrang SP Rajmohan Ray, Additional SP Rupam Phukan and Officer-in-charge of Dhula police station Utpal Bora were suspended for lapses in the investigation of the case. A special investigation team was constituted having forensic medicine experts and the body was exhumed and a second post-mortem of the body was conducted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
Phukan was arrested on Tuesday while Bora was taken into custody a few days ago. Baruah is now in judicial custody.
In a statement on Tuesday, Assam CID said that Phukan had received Rs. 1.5 lakh as a bribe from the kin of the accused through Bora. "He failed to perform his lawful duty as additional SP in charge of crime in the district and tried to screen the accused person who murdered and molested the minor girl," said the statement.
Improper postmortem:
The CID on Monday arrested three doctors, Arun Chandra Deka, Ajanta Bordoloi and Anupam Sharma, who had conducted the first post-mortem of the victim girl's body at Mangaldoi Civil Hospital in Darrang. "Investigation revealed that there are several commissions and omissions committed by these doctors while conducting the first post-mortem of the body. They had clearly written that there were no injury marks except the ligature mark. They did not mention continuation over the skull and neck which were clearly brought out by the second post-mortem conducted at GMCH," said the statement.
The CID said that the second post-mortem concluded that the injuries are antemortem and were caused by a blunt force impact. "Further the panel of forensic medicine experts clearly concluded that the injuries are due to blunt weapon and that the death is due to homicidal strangulation and not suicide." No videography was done and proper procedure was not followed during the autopsy, it further said. "The doctors have clearly conspired to cause the disappearance of the evidence with an intention to screen the offender and also to frame an incorrect report (first post-mortem report) to save the accused from punishment.
The doctors are being interrogated for further investigation, CID said.