The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Lack of help from kin affects investigation in murder cases

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 07, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Lack of help from kin affects investigation in murder cases

In one case, according to police, the family was not revealing the identity of the culprit though they knew him, writes K.V. Subramanya

WHILE THE city police have been successful in detecting most of the murders reported during 2005, several sensational murders that hit the headlines in the previous years have remained unsolved.

Investigation has reached a dead end in more than 20 important murder cases, including several double murders.

The police have neither established the motive behind killing nor arrested the assailants.

At least in four cases of double murder reported from Indiranagar, Ashoknagar, Vijayanagar and Madivala police station limits, the police have closed the cases and filed "C" report in the court. Normally, the police file the "C" report and close the case when the culprits are not traced for long.

According to the police, they have filed "C" reports in the twin murders of Sadananda Shetty and his friend Vinod in Indiranagar (December 1999), Meena Rasquinha and her maid Prema Mary in Ashoknagar (May 2001), Shankaraiah and his daughter-in-law Padmaja in Vijayanagar (August 2001) and Nirmala and her daughter Rajeshwari in Madivala (August 2002).

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) is still investigating the murder of software engineer Jawahar Panchagatti and his wife Anu, which took place in Girinagar police station limits in November 2001.

Reasons

While the police come out with many reasons for not solving the murders, the most important of them has been the lack of cooperation from the family members of the victims.

The police say that in any murder case, the information provided by the relatives of the victim plays a vital role in arresting the suspects.

"It is the victim's family members who normally know more about the person than others."

According to the police in many of the unsolved murder cases, the victim's family members are not forthcoming and this has hindered investigation.

Referring to a sensational murder that was reported from Jayanagar subdivision three years ago, a police official said that though the family members knew the assailant they were not revealing his identity. "A close relative of the victim even threatened to commit suicide if we continued the investigation," he said.

In a double murder that was reported four years ago from the South Division, the family of the victims had "dodged" the police during interrogation, he said.

Family reputation

If the victims were into any illegal or immoral activities, their relatives fear that the family's reputation would be damaged if the truth comes out. In some cases, the relatives themselves could be involved in the crime. So, they do not cooperate with the police, the official said.

Officers' transfer

Another important reason for the delay in cracking the murders was that in most of the cases, the officials investigating the case had been transferred. Their successors were not even aware of facts of the case, the official said.

"In murder cases, we usually get the important clues in a day or two after the incident. If we fail to get the leads even after a week, the investigation will normally reach a dead end," the official explained.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka