More trouble could be in store for B.B. Prasad, the suspended Vidyaranyapura Police Inspector and Sub Inspector Sudarshan Singh as the Bangalore north division police have booked them for abetting suicide based on the dying declaration of Lakshmi Devi (28), the domestic help allegedly tortured following a theft complaint by her employer.
This is the second criminal case filed against the two who are also accused of detaining and assaulting Lakshmi’s 55-year-old mother Narayanama and other family members.
Lakshmi had been picked up by Inspector Prasad and his staff on June 12 on charges of stealing saris from her employer’s house and allegedly tortured her to elicit information.
She went missing till the police found her in a relative’s house last week. The police tortured her again to confess and as soon after she was released, she doused herself in kerosene and set herself on fire.
Police said Inspector Prasad and Sub Inspector Singh forced Lakshmi to give a statement from her hospital bed, confessing to the theft and that she had taken the extreme step fearing punishment.
When her family objected to this statement, Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar sought a fresh statement.
Police sources said Lakshmi’s dying declaration blamed the two policemen following which they were booked for abetment to suicide ( section 306).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sandeep Patil, while confirming the development, refused to say more. The case has been referred to the Criminal Investigations Department.
