A 14-year old girl was found dead at a public washroom in Kalbadevi’s Dava Bazaar on Saturday morning. The police have registered an accidental death report and investigating it further as they suspect it to be a suicide.
According to the victim’s family, the girl was missing since Friday evening. “Around 6 p.m. on Friday, we noticed that she was missing. After two hours of searching for her everywhere, we went to the police to file a missing person complaint. We were searching for her the entire night, and had checked in the washroom as well, but she was not there,” Kavita Sathaliya, the victim’s aunt, said.
On Saturday, the girl’s body was found in a cubicle of a public toilet block. “It looked like a suicide, but we have our doubts. She would never do that to herself. We also feel that she was sexually assaulted and this has to be probed,” her sister said.
The body was sent to JJ Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
“There were no signs of sexual assault. However, samples have been sent to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory so that we are sure,” Dr. Naazeen Khan, a doctor from JJ Hospital’s forensic department, said.
The police, meanwhile, have registered a case under Section 174 of the CrPC (regarding a magistrate conducting an inquest) and Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code. “Prima facie, there is no indication of sexual assault. The investigation is going on. At the moment, we have registered a case of kidnapping and accidental death,” Deepak Nigam, senior inspector, LT Marg police station, said.
