Police unprofessional in Dalit girl murder probe: Justice Narayana Kurup

Kochi: The police team probing the rape and murder of a dalit student in Perumbavur failed to follow standard investigation practices that could have cost it vital evidence in the case, Justice Narayana Kurup, chairman, State Police Complaints Authority, observed on Tuesday.

“It was unprofessional on the part of the investigators not to approach the case with due seriousness,” he said after pronouncing the order in a custodial torture case here. Justice Kurup even called for an urgent revamp of the training imparted to police personnel. He cited the failure to videograph the autopsy of the victim’s body and its cremation in a hurry hours after conducting the autopsy as instances for the police let-up.

“While cremation of the body amounted to permanent destruction of scientific evidence, failure to cordon off the crime scene may have led to destruction of vital clues. There is always a difference between a photocopy and the original,” he said.

Also, the police should have cordoned off the crime scene as soon as possible. “Instead, people were seen coming in and out of the premises of the victim’s house and the cops finally did it five days after the crime. By that time, they might have lost crucial evidence,” Justice Kurup charged.