CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered a CB-CID probe into the death of a 25-year-old housewife, found hanging at her in-laws’ house here in August last year.
Justice K.N. Basha ordered the probe after the victim’s father, N. Shanmuga Murthy, filed a criminal original petition stating he had a strong suspicion on the circumstances under which his daughter was found dead.
The Judge said, “It is the duty of the investigating agency to probe further as there are several mysterious circumstances in this case.”
“Strong suspicion”
As the deceased was married to Dr. S. Shanmuganathan only about three years ago, a mandatory inquiry by the Tahsildar was also conducted. In his report, the Tahsildar recorded the statements of the victim’s parents that they had “strong suspicion on their son-in-law and in-laws over the mysterious death of their daughter.” The victim’s mother said her daughter had told her that she was not leading a happy married life.
In his final opinion, the Tahsildar said the investigating agency should conduct further investigation to ascertain the truth and correct reason for the death. Though the incident occurred in August 2006, till date the Mylapore police had not filed a charge sheet, the petitioner stated.
Mr. Justice Basha, referring to the Tahsildar’s findings, said, “Inspite of the report of the Tahsildar, the Inspector of Police at the Foreshore Estate police station in Mylapore has not even raised his little finger in respect of this serious matter.”
The Judge further said: “Even assuming that it was a case of suicide, it is the duty of the investigating agency to find out the reason for the suicide, to the effect that whether the deceased committed suicide on her own or whether the ill-treatment by her husband or in-laws had driven her to take the extreme step of putting an end to her life by hanging.
“It is also relevant to point out that on the basis of the post-mortem certificate itself it cannot be conclusively confirmed that this is a case of suicide as it is merely mentioned in the certificate that the deceased died due to hanging.”He directed the Foreshore Police station Inspector to hand over the entire records to the CB-CID within a week.
Printer friendly
page Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
