The First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Kottarakkara police in Kerala’s Kollam district following the murder of Dr Vandana Das, a 22-year-old house surgeon who was stabbed to death by a man brought in for treatment, has triggered a row after the FIR was found to have discrepancies.
Dr Vandana Das, a final year MBBS student, who was doing her house surgency at the Taluk hospital, succumbed to injuries after being stabbed by 42-year-old Sandeep, on Wednesday, May 10. The incident took place at around 4:30 am, but the FIR states that they got information about the incident only at 8.15 am, just 15 minutes before Vandana’s death was confirmed.
The accused Sandeep, a school teacher, was brought to the hospital by the police themselves after he contacted them for help claiming that he had been attacked by neighbours and relatives. A nurse, who was an eye-witness to the crime, said that Sandeep went out of the procedure room after she finished dressing his wounds and began attacking people including police officials with a pair of surgical scissors.
Despite two police officials being injured in the incident which took place around 4.30 early in the morning, the police FIR mentions that it was only at 8.15 am that they were intimated about it. The FIR was registered at 9.39 am.
According to the FIR, Sandeep has been booked under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 333 (causing grievous hurt), and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. He has also been charged with offences under the Kerala Prevention of Damage to Private Property and Payment of Compensation Act, 2018, and the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act 2012.
However, the police in their FIR, have not included the charge of murder, despite the death of Vandana. As per reports, the Kottarakara police said that the FIR was prepared based on the information given by a doctor, who was a witness to the ghastly incident, and that they will revise the FIR.
Kerala’s Opposition leader VD Satheesan slammed the police and accused them of negligence in the case, calling out the discrepancies in the FIR. “The police are now finding ways to get away with their failure in the case. The statements given by the ADGP and what is recorded in the FIR are different,” said Satheesan. “The accused, who is said to be a drug addict, was brought to the hospital along with a home guard without even tying his hands,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Kerala police gave an explanation on the incident before the High Court on Thursday, May 11. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A Ajith Kumar told the Kerala HC that the protocol for producing a person for medical examination will be renewed and that the present one is insufficient.
Explaining the entire incident through a PowerPoint presentation, the ADGP told the court that Sandeep, the accused in the case, was a complainant who called the Kerala police’s emergency contact number 112 at around 3.30 am on Wednesday. The officer had earlier also told the media that Sandeep contacted the police alleging that someone was trying to kill him. Since he was found injured in his leg, the police took him to the Kottarakkara Taluk hospital. The officer explained this to the court by submitting call details of Sandeep.
The officer said that the accused was calm during the examination at the hospital, but was provoked suddenly when his relative who accompanied him helped the nurse by holding his leg. He added that Sandeep kicked the relative initially, seized a pair of scissors, and stabbed the home guard who tried to stop him.
Two police officers, including one from the hospital police aid post, and a resident sustained injuries while trying to stop him. Vandana was isolated while other hospital staff locked themselves inside a room after Sandeep turned violent.
On May 10, the Kerala HC had asked the police chief to appear online before the court on the next day morning with a full report. A division bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kouser Edappagath held an emergency sitting in the case on May 11.