Court asks sr cop to list out details on autopsy report in 2015 death

Times of India: Mumbai: Monday, July 16, 2018.

Not satisfied with the investigation by Navi Mumbai police into the mysterious death of a newly married woman in 2015, the Bombay high court has directed the assistant commissioner of police to submit a report citing the efforts made to procure an opinion from JJ Hospital on the cause of death.

A division bench of Justices R M Savant and Revati Mohite Dere was hearing a petition by the father of Vedali Mukne, a software engineer, urging it to transfer the probe to the state CID. The HC directed JJ Hospital dean to expedite its opinion and give to the police.

On November 11, 2015, Vedali died after falling from the terrace of her three-storey buildi-ng in Airoli, six months after a love marriage with Hitesh Bhandari. The Muknes’ advocate, Charanjeet Singh, said a day before her death, there was a family function at her in-laws’ house and she was happy. “Surprisingly, the next morning, she was found dead below her building,” he said.

The Rabale police filed an FIR against Hitesh and his parents for dowry death and destruction of evidence based on allegations by Vedali’s brother Aditya that she was tortured and pushed from the terrace by her in-laws. Public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde said the cause of death is due to fall, but her family isn’t convinced. “The initial post-mortem examination found scratches on her wrist, bruises on the hand and no major injury. This is strange, considering she fell from a height,” said Aditya, adding that the police had submitted the chargesheet without the final post-mortem report. “I got the report under the RTI Act, which stated that the death appears to be suspicious, and the possibility of assault and homicidal fall from height leading to death cannot be ruled out,” Aditya told TOI.

Rubbishing the claims, the Bhandaris’ lawyer, Laxman Kunal, said: “Vedali was undergoing treatment for depression since 2013. There are medical reports and a doctor’s certificate to prove this. The Muknes know about it and also that she committed suicide.”