Initially, the death of an eighth standard student, Sai Krishna, in Rajendranagar, a week ago looked like the consequence of a clash he had with his classmate, Jagdish, as alleged by Sai Krishna's parents.
As the investigators began pursuing the case with minute details what was believed to be an open and shut case turned out to be a complex one from medical, investigation and legal points of view. The two students of New Little Scholars School in Kismatpur were outside a function hall where the school's annual day programme was to be held on the evening of March 22.
Around 4.30 p.m., the two students decided to compete by running a short distance in the abutting open space. While reaching the finishing point, they nearly ran into each other and almost fell. Jagdish rushed to the principal and told him that Sai Krishna had fallen unconscious.
The school management rushed the boy to a corporate hospital in Somajiguda. The boy died by then. His father lodged a complaint stating that his son died after Jagdish hit him on his temple. He alleged that there was a contusion on one eye of his son. A case of homicide was registered and autopsy performed.
The first intriguing point in the case emerged when the forensic doctors reportedly said they could not confirm if the boy died of a blow due to lack of medical evidence. Unlike in other cases, they were believed to have expressed their helplessness to give a short opinion on the cause of death about which they were not sure. The viscera was preserved and sent to the laboratory for analysis. There were no visible injuries on the victim's body except the ‘contusion on the eye' which the forensic doctors felt was not sufficient to kill the boy. How did he die then? The contusion could have been caused as the boy's head hit the ground after falling down is another argument.
Forensic experts say there are other possibilities like unusually high and sudden physical exertion causing death. They point out to deaths reported during long distance running in police recruitment tests. “More than post-mortem examination, the medical history of the victim assumes importance in ascertaining the cause of death in such cases,” they feel. The case is not free from legal complexities. Police contended that the section of murder was invoked based on the complaint of the victim's father. But legal experts opine that registering a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder would have been more appropriate since the boy in question would not have any intention to kill his classmate. Even that section cannot be applied since there is no prima facie evidence to suggest that the boy died after being hit by his classmate, they observe.
