South Mumbai jail inmate murder: Is state shielding alleged killers?

Byculla jail has been at the centre of controversy since the custodial death of inmate Manjula ShetyeManjula Shetyes death in Byculla jail is shocking on several counts mdash not only was she the first woman victim of custodial death in Maharashtra the preliminary postmortem report seems to support allegations in the FIR that she died because of a brutal assault by jail officials Despite this even five days after the FIR was registered her alleged tormentors are yet to be arrestedJuniors perform autopsyDespite the sensitive nature of the case it turns out that protocol was not followed during the autopsy at JJ Hospital either Instead of having a professor or associate professor or assistant professor perform the postmortem it was done by a lecturer Dr Sunny Khandare attached to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology along with two trainees Dr Priya Patil and Dr N KambleWhen questioned about this Dr TP Lahane dean of Grant Medical College tried to downplay the issue While the three doctors conducted the autopsy Dr Sadanand Bhise the associate professor was supervising the entire procedure he said before disconnecting the lineAlso read Byculla Jail inmate murder No injuries to private parts claims inquest panchnamamidday has learnt from reliable sources that the postmortem copy was not signed by Dr Bhise either If he was supervising the autopsy then why didnt he sign it asked a forensic expert adding When such a highprofile case is brought a minimum of two gazetted officers lecturer assistant associate or professor should conduct the autopsy which was not done in this caseAlso read Indrani Mukerjea They said theyll do to me what they did to ManjulaManjula Shetye died after allegedly being assaulted in Byculla prison on June 23Inconclusive say copsThe provisional cause of death certificate states that the victim died due to multiple contusions blunt trauma along with pulmonary edema excess fluid in the lungs which supports allegations that Manjula was brutally assaulted However a senior police officer insisted The postmortem report was inconclusiveAlso read Court records Indrani Mukerjeas statement on Mumbai prison riotExperts said that the police have enough evidence to arrest the accused jail officials on the basis of the autopsy report and the testimony of Mariam Shaikh 27 a Byculla jail inmate who is also the complainant in the case Mariam gave a detailed account of Shetyes ordeal and even named six jail staffers who were the perpetratorsHer testimony was corroborated by former media magnate Indrani Mukerjea in court on WednesdayAlso read Mumbai crime branch to probe death of Byculla jail convictIt was on the basis of Mariams statement that the Nagpada police lodged an FIR under Sections 302 murder and 34 common intention of the IPC Asked why the accused were not arrested then DCP Zone 3 Akhilesh Singh said How can we arrest anyone without evidenceOn pointing out that the postmortem stated multiple injuries as the cause of death Singh retorted The cause of death also mentions pulmonary edemaAlso read Mumbai How authorities averted prison break at Byculla womens jailManjula Shetye VictimEnough evidenceA senior forensic expert explained that pulmonary edema does not rule out assault Pulmonary edema is nothing but collection of fluid in lung tissues which can happen due to illness or shock The first reason for death is multiple contusions which clearly indicates that the victim was assaulted Also there are eyewitnesses who witnessed the assault by jail staff which is sufficient evidence for arrestAdvocate Anjali Patil a practicing criminal lawyer said The police should not wait for the final postmortem findings as the very nature of injury on the body show that the deceased was assaulted and there are witnesses to corroborate the same The final postmortem report is required during trial to prove the case against the accusedAlso read Mumbai Slain Byculla Jail inmate was repeatedly denied prison transferShe added Normally the police are quick to arrest a suspect and then collect evidence Surprisingly in this case they are seeking all opinions before arresting the accusedIndrani Mukerjea WitnessCrime Branch saysA senior crime branch officer said We got the case in our hand officially on Wednesday and we spent all of Thursday before the womens commission We are yet to call the jail staff for questioning Asked if any of the accused were absconding the officer replied in the negative adding We havent called them yet for questioning but I can assure you that we will do a proper investigation and nail all those who are involvedLacunae in probeAdvocate Patil added This is the first case of custodial death of a woman convict by prison staff Instead of handing over the investigation to the state CID or CBI why was the Crime Branch assigned the investigation Also senior prison officials should had been restricted from having any dialogue with the suspects or inmates as they could influence witnesses and tamper with the evidenceAlso read Mumbai Women prisoners vandalise Byculla jail after death of fellow inmate injure six staffersShe further pointed out that the police should have recorded the statements of inmate witnesses before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure CodeSenior public prosecutor Rohini Salian said I am not purview to the case details but all I can say on the basis of media reports is that the police could have handled the case better and that they could have probed the matter on the basis of the FIRAdvocate Nazneen Khatri who wrote to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court on behalf of the inmates said I will soon be moving a petition to quash the riot case registered against 291 undertrial prisoners It is unfortunate that the accused who should have been arrested are still absconding and undertrials will continue to languish in jail because of a fresh case against them