Nilambur case: autopsy confirms rape

Two accused made to re-enact crime using a dummy

The police, on Sunday, confirmed that the woman murdered at the Congress block office at Nilambur a few days ago had been raped before she was strangulated.

The police confirmation was on the basis of the post-mortem report. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether there was any sexual intercourse before the murder.

Inspector General of Police (Thrissur) S. Gopinath, who visited Nilambur and supervised a dummy exercise by making the two accused re-enact the crime on Sunday, told The Hindu that they could say anything about sexual intercourse only after getting the chemical analysis report.

Mr. Gopinath said the plastic handle of a two-metre-long ceiling broom was found to have been thrust into the victim’s vagina. “It was technically a clear case of rape,” the IG said.

The 2013-amendment of Indian Penal Code (Section 375) has widened the scope of rape. Parliament made the amendments following widespread protests in the wake of the 2012 brutal gang rape in Delhi.

Penetration of any object into the private parts of a woman can be considered rape, according to the new law.

Charges

District Superintendent of Police P. Vimaladitya told The Hindu that the ante-mortem injuries in the victim’s private parts indicated that she had been raped. He said the accused would be booked for rape, murder, destruction of evidence, and conspiracy.

Mr. Gopinath said the police would submit a final report at the court on Monday after including the latest findings. The dummy exercise on Sunday helped the police confirm that the two accused could execute the crime at the Congress office and carry the body to the pond where it was dumped without the help of another person.

The accused were made to re-enact the crime by using a 50-kg dummy tied in a sack. The woman weighed about 50 kg at the time of her death.

Mr. Gopinath said the police had questioned 69 people as part of the investigation. More persons could be questioned, he said.

The investigating team recovered about a dozen objects used for the crime, including the masking tape used to gag the woman.