18-year-old Mishel Shaji was found dead in the backwaters near Kochi Wharf on March 6. The young woman’s death has led to a huge controversy, with her family denying the police version that it was a case of suicide.
TNM has accessed the post mortem report which says that the death was due to drowning.
The post mortem report prepared by Dr Meena KS, Professor and HOD, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government College Ernakulam, does not mention any signs of sexual assault.
It says that blood stained fluid was seen at nose and mouth, the neck structure was normal and that there was fluid collection in her lungs and brain.
Mishel’s nail and hair samples have been sent for DNA testing while her blood, viscera, vaginal swabs and smears have been sent for further testing.
Man arrested, case for abetting suicide
The police have arrested a man named Cronin Alexander Baby and filed a case against him for abetting Mishel’s suicide.
A police source told TNM that the man, who was Mishel’s friend, had been harassing her with calls. Cronin, who is currently working in Chattisgarh had sent many messages to Mishel on March 4.
Police claim that the two had been in a relationship and that Mishel was not keen to go ahead with it and that her decision angered the man.
Mishel’s father has however rejected this. “Police are saying that he is our distant relative and that they were almost set to get married. I don’t know who this man is,” Shaji told TNM.
The family had earlier raised suspicions on two men seen on a bike near the wharf. One of the men has now come forward and told the media that they had indeed seen a girl standing near the wharf, but that they did not see her jump into the water.
Mishel, a resident of Elanji in Ernakulam district, was living in a hostel in Kacheripady, so that she could attend coaching classes for the qualifying exam for Chartered Accountancy in Palarivattom. Although Mishel normally went home on the weekends, last weekend she had stayed behind in the hostel because her exams were coming up, according to her father Shaji.