The post mortem report of the 9-year-old Dalit girl who was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in Puducherry has been submitted in a sealed cover by the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) on Monday, March 11. The hospital handed over the sealed cover to the police, who will submit it at the court and seek a copy of the report. The girl went missing on March 2 and her decomposed body was found in a drain near her house in Muthialpet on March 5.
According to The New Indian Express, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Senior Superintendent of Police R Kalaivanan will seek police custody of the two accused in the case – Karunas alias Kakka (19) and Harikrishnan Vivekanandhan (56). Both of them were arrested by the SIT and booked under several relevant sections of IPC, POCSO Act, and SC/ST (PoA) Act on March 6. The accused have been booked for murder under the IPC and rape and gang rape under POCSO.
On March 11, the Puducherry jail department released a press statement stating that the duo were lodged in separate cells in view of security, as they were involved in a very sensitive case.
While multiple reports and social media posts had claimed that Vivekanandhan attempted to kill himself in the jail, the police have clarified that no such incident has occurred and there is constant police monitoring on the two accused. Both of them have been locked in separate cells at the Puducherry Central Prison.
“Public at large are requested and advised not to pay attention to these media reports. Further, it is also requested to media persons that they may kindly publish the news they hear on the matter after due verification from authorised personnel,” a press statement by the prison department read. TNIE reported that Vivekanandhan expressed repentance during counselling, and wanted to end his life, following which he has been closely watched by the prison authorities.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) has commenced its probe into the matter. On Saturday, March 9, a three-member NCSC team headed by its director S Ravivarman visited Puducherry. The team met with the doctors in JIPMER who conducted the autopsy and also held discussions with the SIT. They also visited the crime spot and the victim’s family.
Addressing the media, Ravivarman said that they got to know that the victim belonged to the SC community through media reports and decided to take suo moto action. “The doctors said they were shocked and heartbroken on seeing the injuries sustained by the girl during the brutal assault. They will be doing DNA tests shortly. They collected samples from the girl's body, which was soaked in the drain for four days. Police have also collected liquor bottles, cigarette butts, and some belongings of the accused for detailed analysis,” Ravivarman said, according to a Times of India report.
The NCSC director had also said that the victim’s family will be given a compensation of Rs 7.12 lakh now and another Rs 4 lakh once the charge sheet is filed.
The girl who was studying in class 5 went missing on March 2. Her decomposed body was found bundled in a white-coloured dhoti on March 5. It was recovered from a drain just 200 metres from her house.
The jail department’s statement said that the accused have been booked under sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 302 (punishment for murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of IPC read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC; section 3(2)(4), 3(1)(w)(1) of SC/ST (PoA) Act (section 3 pertains to punishments for offences atrocities) and sections 6(1) (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) read with 5 (m)(r)(g) (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of POCSO Act.
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