Bereaved Family Unconvinced
Port Blair, Aug 13: A 44 year old lady named G Selvi was found murdered in a bush near the Water Treatment Plant, Ranchi Basti early in the morning of 2nd August 2018. The body was found in a mysterious condition and investigation by the police and the Post Mortem Report had cleared the reason for the death to be strangulation. Investigation had also revealed that the incident had taken place on 1st of August 2018 and the jewellery worn by the deceased was removed forcefully from her body.
The murder of G Selvi has raised much hue and cry especially among the Tamil Community, which took out a peace march protesting the inaction of the Police in solving the murder mystery. The case gradually took a serious turn with the involvement of the Member of Parliament, Bishnu Pada Ray, who stood by the family to demand justice.
Later the A&N Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to check minute details in the case which can lead to the culprit. Inquiries in the area were carried out widely. Many suspects were rounded up. During this process one minor who reportedly saw the incident narrated the incidence of said crime. Accordingly one accused Rithik Halder S/o Shri Tapan Halder (18 yrs) R/o Ranchi Basthi, School Line was arrested and taken on 5 days police custody remand.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, South Andaman District, Vijay Singh, IPS today called a press conference wherein he disclosed that after all efforts, the actual accused in the case has been arrested. The accused is a minor in the age group of 14-15 years, who confessed his crime. The accused had also enacted the murder scene and later took the police to the place where he had hid the stolen jewellery. The SSP cleared that there cannot be any other person involved in the case. He said that the accused wanted to buy a fancy mobile, which led him to commit the crime. The SSP also said that the child had been watching WWF wrestling matches and had learnt how to strangulate.
Though the case has been cleared by the A&N Police, the bereaved family of the victim along with the Member of Parliament, Bishnu Pada Ray later reached to the Press Conference venue and stated that they were not convinced by the investigation of the Police.
Chandravathi, 24, daughter of the deceased said, “My mother was tall and well built. Even we couldn’t stop her and I am confident that a lean boy of 14-15 years cannot kill my mother single handedly”. Rubbishing the tall claims of the A&N Police, Chandravathi demanded that the investigation be handed over to the CBI. Chandravathi has done her MBA and presently working at Chennai.
Meanwhile Karthik, 21, son of the deceased G. Selvi said, “We had met the SHO at Aberdeen Police Station. He had told us that somebody had stamped over the chest of my mother and later strangulated her. But now the Police say that it was only one person who killed my mother and also the Post Mortem Report according to the Police indicate only strangulation as the cause of death”. I’m not convinced with the investigation and I demand a CBI enquiry.
The Member of Parliament upon hearing the statement of the bereaved family announced that he would be writing immediately to the Lt. Governor to hand over the investigation to the CBI. Bishnu said, “I am not convinced with the investigation of the A&N Police”.
It is surprising to note that after eleven days of the crime, the A&N Police comes up with a version that the accused had confessed his guilt yesterday. The point to be noted is that the teen aged accused was also rounded up earlier during the investigation and it took him days to come back to confess the crime.
Many eyebrows are raised at this juncture since the accused according to the Police is a juvenile and will not be granted much punishment. Now it is to be seen whether the case would be handed over to the CBI and whether the CBI would be able to unearth the mystery.