With Pics & Inputs from Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Jul 14: The policemen have not made any headway in their investigations into the death of the first PU student near Byndoor, who had gone missing while walking to her college on July 9 morning. Her body was later recovered from forest area on Saturday July 12 morning.
File Photo
Prima facie, it is difficult to ascertain whether it was accidental death, suicide, or murder. One of the theories is that the girl would have resisted attempts to have sex, and the man in question would have killed her for the fear of earning dubious reputation and facing legal action. The body was found in an area that is comparatively open, and hence, does not happen to be an ideal place for such acts, taking into account existence of larger bushes behind this place. The preliminary report of the post mortem also has not hinted about any suspicious activities.
The body had school bag on its back, water bottle had been placed behind her head, and umbrella and shawl were neatly kept beside the body. Although these things point towards some foul play, the police investigators have failed to get any reliable clue.
A team formed by the district superintendent of police continues to be stationed at Byndoor. The team has been conducting meetings with different police officers, and pursuing investigation by forming different teams. The policemen pin their hope of getting a clear lead once the full post mortem report is received by it.
Prima facie, there is no evidence of suicide. The neck of the girl appears to have been swollen, and her limbs seem to have shaken a little. Although writhing is a normal feature during painful deaths, the fact that her kerchief remained, in spite of this struggle, in her hand has surprised the people. The severed belt of the wrist watch she wore, and missing gold ornaments from her ears, have also given rise to suspicions. It is said that the girl suffered from some health problems. In this background, some suspect that the girl would have been chased for the ornaments she was wearing, and that the thieves would have made good their escape by placing her body near the road after taking away the ornaments, after the girl suffered cardiac arrest and died suddenly.
The body, which was handed over to the family after post mortem at Manipal, was consigned to flames at Konanamakki on Saturday evening. MLC, Kota Srinivas Poojary, Byndoor constituency BJP president, Sukumar Shetty, taluk panchayat member, Raju Poojary, and several other dignitaries were present.
District in-charge minister, Vinay Kumar Sorake, visited the bereaved family and shared the grief. Reacting to the demand of locals, who had met at Alandoor higher primary school where the victim had studied, to hasten the investigation, he said the police teams are already on the job, and that findings of the post mortem report would be crucial for the investigation. He was accompanied by district superintendent of police, Boralinganaih, taluk panchayat member, Raju Poojary, and some other leaders.
Speaking to journalists, Sorake said that the concerned have been instructed to undertake impartial investigation, and that doctors from Manipal too are conducting details tests to determine the cause of the girl's death. When some press persons tried to draw a parallel between this case and the case relating to death of Saujanya in Beltangady, he said these two are altogether different cases and hence comparing the two is not justifiable. About compensation if any payable to the family he said he will discuss the issue to the departments concerned.
Superintendent of police, Boralingaiah, said that the preliminary post mortem report has not found supporting evidence about rape or murder. The fact that there were no traces of poison in the body and it was in decomposed at the time of finding it, have created further problems for the investigations, he added.
On this occasion, a sum of Rs 25,000 was handed over to the family of the deceased on behalf of Udupi District Kottary Sangha.
In the meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat Kundapur unit has given a call for all college bandh in the taluk on Monday, while the local unit of Students Federation of India has called for closing down all the schools and colleges on Monday.