The post-mortem report of a 17-year-old NEET aspirant, who was found unconscious in her hostel room in Patna and died during treatment last week, said sexual violence could not be ruled out in the case.
The autopsy report was received by police on Wednesday, according to an official press note issued Thursday by the office of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Sadar-1 Patna.
Two days earlier, City SP Parichay Kumar had told the media that the gynaecologist who examined the girl on the first day of her hospitalisation “had not found any evidence of sexual assault”.
He had also said that CCTV footage from the hostel “doesn’t indicate any foul” and that the girl’s mobile phone search history showed queries related to poison.
The SP had said, “The girl’s urine report had indicated consumption of sleeping pills.” However, he had also said that further action would be taken on the basis of the post-mortem report.
After the post-mortem findings were received, police acknowledged the change in the medical opinion. In a note issued on Thursday, police said that in view of the seriousness of the case, the owner of the hostel, Manish Kumar Ranjan, had been arrested and produced before a court. Police said further legal action would be taken on the basis of evidence emerging during the ongoing investigation.
According to police, on January 9, they received information that the girl had been found unconscious in her hostel room. She was initially taken to a clinic and later referred for better treatment, officials said.
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Her family subsequently admitted her to a different hospital, where she remained under treatment from January 6 to January 10. As her condition deteriorated, she was moved to another hospital, where she died during treatment on January 11, officers said.
From the outset, the girl’s family alleged sexual assault and foul play. In an FIR lodged on January 9, the girl’s father said his “daughter had left home on January 5 for the hostel and had spoken to him around 9 pm to confirm she had reached safely”. The next evening, he was informed by a friend that the girl was lying unconscious in the hostel.
In the FIR, the father said “his daughter had not regained consciousness since January 6 and was unable to speak”. He expressed suspicion that “she had been assaulted at the hostel”, saying that there were “injury marks on her body and head”, and that there may have been “an attempt to establish physical relations” after assault.
BNS sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 76 (assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe), 109 (attempt to murder) and 3(5) (common intention) were invoked in the case.
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Police initially said an examination of the scene, forensic analysis, CCTV footage, statements of the hostel operator and warden, doctors, a woman gynaecologist, and investigation reports “did not confirm sexual assault”.
After the girl’s death, her family intensified their protest over the case. On Monday evening, they brought the body to Kargil Chowk near Gandhi Maidan and staged a demonstration, which drew a large crowd.
Police from several stations eventually dispersed the protesters using mild force to clear the area. Subsequently, a case was registered under the Gandhi Maidan police station for the alleged violent protest.
