A 32-year-old man has been staging a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office for the past 12 days. He is demanding justice for his mother, who died after being allegedly assaulted by a few relatives over a property dispute.
According to B.D. Vedaraju of Bavasavalli in Alur taluk, the accused are roaming free because of police inaction and a wrongful report by the doctor who conducted the autopsy.
Mr. Vedaraju’s mother H.Y. Mohanakshi, then 59, was allegedly assaulted by his aunt Savitha and cousins Madan Kumar and Meghana over a property dispute on October 15, 2013. She was admitted to a hospital in Alur, before being shifted to a hospital in Hassan and then to Bengaluru. She died on January 2, 2014.
The Alur police, who had originally registered a case of assault, delayed in changing it to a murder case, and the body was laid to rest without being subjected to autopsy, Mr. Vedaraju said.
He said he complained to senior officers and succeeded in getting the case changed to one of murder. The body was exhumed and autopsy conducted in Hassan.
P.I. Inamdar, then a professor and head of the Department of Forensic Medicines at the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS), prepared the exhumation report. The doctor cited injuries to the body but termed it a natural death. He opined that the injuries were “ante-mortem” in nature and not sufficient to have caused a delayed death.
Complaint filed
Mr. Vedaraju filed a complaint against the doctor for terming it a natural death even after citing many injuries. “I have been fighting against the doctor legally. Meanwhile, I approached senior police officers, including the then DG and IGP R.K. Dutta, seeking justice for my mother,” he said.
According to Mr. Vedaraju, following his efforts, senior police officers directed the Alur police to seek the opinion of K.W.D. Ravi Chandar, emeritus professor of forensic medicine. After verifying the records, Dr. Chandar termed the exhumation report of the HIMS professor illogical and unacceptable. “Even two years after this, the police have not moved an inch. The accused are still roaming free,” he said.
He is accompanied by his father, Dharmappa, in the protest. They said they plan to continue protesting till the accused are arrested.
