In a startling disclosure in the tragic Kathua case involving alleged gangrape and murder of an 8-year-old, Dainik Jagran newspaper has today reported that post-mortem reports do not mention the girl being raped.
This came to light when lawyer Asim Sahni, representing the accused, received two separate post-mortem reports from Kathua district hospital, but neither of those talk about any signs of rape on the girl’s body.
First report
The first post-mortem report says that there were 6 injury marks on the girl’s body. There is no mention of any fracture in the skull, which raises questions over the Crime Branch chargesheet that claimed the girl’s head was bashed in twice with a stone after she was strangulated.
The report says that the girl died due to a heart attack triggered by her breath being stopped. Traces of sedatives were found in the stomach. Scratches were seen on the right arm, stomach and lower parts of the body.
Second Report
The second post-mortem report says there were 7 injury marks – some on the thigh. No foreign fluid was found in her private parts or her clothes which were sent to FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory). The Crime Branch chargesheet had claimed that two of the accused had gang-raped her right before she was killed, which makes absence of any fluids in victim’s private parts very surprising.
The chargesheet also says that the accused policemen washed the victim’s clothes before sending them to FSL. Yet, the chargesheet says that FSL Delhi with updated technology was able to confirm the presence of the girl’s blood stains on the washed clothes – this raises the question that if blood stains could be found despite washing, why not semen?
The post-mortem did find that the girl’s hymen was ruptured, but this is not uncommon in girls who do horse-riding, swimming, cycling or other strenuous work. Minor blood spots were observed in the girl’s private parts. The report says that the girl was killed 36-72 hours before the time was body was recovered.
One major miss by the police was that they did not send the accused’s undergarments for testing to FSL. Another interesting aspect is that the girl’s hair-strand which chargesheet claims was recovered from the Devisthan, was found a lot later – it was sent to Delhi FSL for testing only in March. But the Devisthan was being cleaned & visited daily by devotees, before & after the girl’s body was recovered on 17 Jan.
HinduPost Note
The chargesheet indicates that the girl’s body was lying in the Devisthan till 16th January, when it was disposed inside the jungle.
But a Zee News ground report video shown below, wherein the reporter actually visited the Devisthan and talked to devotees, shows people saying that ladies of the village used to visit the Devisthan daily for prayers and that a bhandara (community lunch) was organized on the 15th of January (watch at 6:05 in video). It is also surprising that the cowshed where the girl was said to have been kept as per initial local police investigation has been locked by authorities (watch at 1:30 in video), but the Devisthan which Crime Branch says is the main crime scene has not been sealed?
Thanks To Zee News For Bringing The Ground Reality And Showing Why People Of #Kathua Are Demanding Fair Investigation By CBI. #KathuaKaSach Must Be Out And Those Guilty Must Be Punished Severely To Set An Example. ? #KathuaCase #DNA #JusticeForOurChild pic.twitter.com/zCLAbxHuEx
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) April 16, 2018
Another video has emerged showing the lawyer of one of the accused complaining that police is not allowing him to meet with his client as per Supreme Court mandated norms –
Kathua Case: Defence lawyers neither being given challan copy nor being given access to their clients, lodged in the jail. The police says, oopar se order hai. This is the death of principle of natural justice. Reminds me of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case.pic.twitter.com/aVz5vQA7WU
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) April 18, 2018
It is clear to any unjaundiced eye that the investigation into the little girl’s murder is full of holes at this point, more than 3 months after her body was recovered. It is high time that the investigation was handed over to CBI – the premier investigative agency in the country.
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