The suspicious death of Francesco Montis, an Italian tourist, in a hotel in Varanasi five years ago will remain a mystery thanks to the police’s failure to collect CCTV footage.
The slip has cost the investigation dear, with a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court acquitting the deceased’s Italian companions Tomaso Bruno and Elisa Betta Bon.
Their acquittal came despite two separate post-mortem reports showing he was strangled to death. The trial court awarded the life term to the two Italians, which was confirmed by the High Court.
A Bench of Justices Anil R. Dave, Kurian Joseph and R. Banumathi, which heard the appeal by the foreign tourists, expressed incredulity at the investigating officer’s version that he watched the CCTV footage from the hotel’s cameras, but did not think of recording it in a CD.
Justice Banumathi, who wrote the verdict, blamed a lack of “scientific temper” at both individual and institutional levels in the police for the murder case falling to pieces.
“With the increasing impact of technology in everyday life and as a result, the production of electronic evidence in cases has become relevant to establish the guilt of the accused,” the judgment said.
“Non-production of CCTV footage, non-collection of call records (details) and SIM details of mobile phones seized from the accused cannot be said to be mere instances of faulty investigation, but amount to withholding of best evidence. It is not the case of the prosecution that CCTV footage could not be lifted or a CD copy could not be made,” Justice Banumathi said.
The three tourists had come to India from London and reached Varanasi on January 31, 2010. They checked in to Hotel Buddha.
The prosecution said that on February 3, all three had shut themselves up in their room the whole night. The next morning, Mr. Bruno and Ms. Betta Bon left at 4 a.m. to watch the famous “Subahe Banaras.”
They returned at 8 a.m., and soon after alerted the hotel manager that Mr. Montis was unwell. Mr. Montis was rushed to the local hospital, where he was declared “brought dead.”
Besides the post-mortem reports showing he was strangled to death, the bed in the room and the pillow too pointed to strangulation, the police said.
