Bengaluru: The post-mortem of Mahendar Rathod, 42, who died in custody, was conducted in the presence of a senior magistrate and officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Bowring Hospital morgue on Tuesday morning. The entire procedure was video-recorded in the presence of a family member too for further investigation.
Samples of viscera from the victim’s body were collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for a detailed analysis as instructed by the investigating CID sleuths.
The FSL analysis could play a crucial role in the investigations which would be corroborated with the post-mortem report, which is expected on Wednesday, a senior official said. However, the preliminary post-mortem report points to cardiac failure as the cause of the death, he added.
The post-mortem began around 9:30 am and got over by 3.15 pm and the body was handed over to the relatives subsequently. Mahendar, who had separated from his wife, was living in Mahadevapura with two minor daughters, who are currently under the care of a neighbor named Banu. The two children have no clue about their father’s demise and have been told that he had gone to Chennai, a source said.
Neighbours recalled Mahendra as a soft spoken person and did not believe that he could have committed the theft. Even a laundry man who worked before Purohit’s house stated that he has been seeing Mahendra for five years working in the same house and there were no complaints about him whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the CID officials have questioned the complainant and the employer of the victim, Purohit about the health condition of Mahendar while he was working. He was reportedly healthy and had no ailments.
The CID officials have also corroborated the facts about the victim’s health with the police while he was in custody on Saturday. After the post-mortem the body was taken in an ambulance to his native place in Odisha, according to the police.
‘Settling’ civil cases a money-spinner for cops
Though they are meant to serve and protect the citizens, police stations often turn into venues of brokering and dealings, where real estate and financial disputes are sorted out by the cops in favor of whoever coughs up more to them.
A 47-year-old businessman in C.K. Achchukattu in South Bengaluru, S. Nagaraj recalled the harassment he face from senior police officers, who coerced him to part with Rs 73 lakh, when he refused to pay a broker named Manjunath a commission of Rs 2 lakh for a Rs 95-lakh worth property deal in Jayanagar.
“First of all it’s a civil dispute of demanding huge brokerage and the law and order police have no business in civil matters. Let’s accept that police took up a cheating complaint against me. Let them (cops) register a case, arrest me, send me to jail and let the court decide what I should do, I will abide by whatever the court rules. How can the police officers act like judges, sitting at a station, coerce me to sign cheques of Rs 73 lakh for the opposite party,” Nagaraj said.
“I spent three days in police custody (December 14, 15, and 16) with the cops ill-treating me, harassing me mentally, and made me sit without my clothes in a lockup waiting for me to change my mind to part away with the money,” added Nagaraj.
The businessman not only lost his property, but also Rs 73 lakh that he got for the sale of his property. Nagaraj is now running pillar to post - from police commissioner to the home minister to lodge complaints, but in vain.
There are several cases, mainly civil disputes, that go unreported at the police stations, where police personnel involve themselves conducting trial between two opposite parties and decide the settlement, said an activist.
The police cannot brand all those who walk into a police station or got picked up after a complaint was registered as criminals. The job of the police is to register case, collect evidence and produce the accused before a competent court, the activist added.
“Custodial deaths can have homicidal, suicidal or accidental reasons. Homicidal death in custody is totally uncalled for and there should be zero tolerance for violence,” said S.T. Ramesh, IG & DGP (Retd).
“For the accidental and suicidal deaths in custody, every effort should be made to prevent them through a) tight supervision, b) surprise visits, c) insisting on existing protocols in the police manual regarding arrest, detention, custody, care during custody etc,” he added.
