Rohtak, Dec. 29 -- The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) observed that local police officials in Bhiwani district have failed to investigate the suicide case of a 22-year-old Dalit woman, who died by suicide last year, properly and it recommended that the departmental inquiry against the (erring officers) may be conducted as per provision of Section 4 of the SC/ST (POA) Act. The hearing was held on December 11 before the chairperson of the commission, Kishor Makwana. The panel further recommended that the special investigation team, which has been constituted to probe the case, should investigate in time-bound and impartial manner.The commission has sought an action taken report within 15 days. The 22-year-old student died by suicide in December last year after reportedly being denied permission by the college authorities to appear in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) fifth semester exams due to unpaid fee. However, the college authorities refuted the allegations levelled by the woman's family. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had accused Loharu Congress MLA Rajvir Fartiya of running the institution but he clarified that his brother-in-law, Hanuman, handles the college. DSP (state crime branch Faridabad) Vikas Kumar on December 11 apprised the commission that deceased woman's handwriting did not match with the answer sheets. "As per the CFSL report, the handwriting of the deceased did not match with her answer sheet, therefore Sections- 338, 336 and 340 BNS were added to the FIR. A special investigation team has been constituted to investigate the matter," the DSP told the commission during the meeting. The case was earlier heard before the commission on May 14. During the hearing woman's father had accused the college administration and principal for abetment to commit suicide as they were repeatedly demanding payment of pending fees. He stated that his daughter was denied permission to appear in two papers out of five. "She was pushed into mental distress by the institutional humiliation and financial pressure, culminating in her tragic death," the woman's father had told the commission. In the earlier probe report, following which the re-investigation was ordered, the former investigating officer Vivek Choudhry, DSP (state crime branch) had stated that the woman ended her life after her parents got to know about her "relationship" with one of the accused--Rahul and her classmates told the probe team that she took the step out of fear. The DSP had stated that no evidence of abetment to suicide were found against college director Hanuman, his son Rahul, daughter and college principal. Following which, on March 23, an application was moved to discharge the accused and then National Commission for Scheduled Castes took suo motu cognisance of the matter. On May 14, the commission found the investigation unsatisfactory, inadequate, and procedurally deficient. The DSP had informed the commission that according to the college, the deceased was allowed to write in examination and the college even offered some relaxation in the fee payment. "The answer sheets of all the papers, hall ticket, bus ticket, and call detail records between the college administration and the father of the deceased must be examined by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for verification of handwriting, authenticity, and corroboration of sequence of events. The notes and other exemplar writings of the deceased should be collected by the IO and used for forensic comparison to conclusively determine whether the answer sheets submitted in her name were genuinely written by her. No closure report shall be filed or submitted before the court until the forensic findings are received and the allegations are thoroughly investigated," the commission had then observed. Commission observed that the answer sheets produced by the investigation officer, handwriting that did not match that of the deceased and despite the gravity of the allegations and the sensitive nature of the case, critical investigative steps were not undertaken. No forensic examination was conducted on the answer sheets to verify the authenticity of the handwriting. And thereafter, the IO was changed and re-investigation was started. The SIT, headed by DSP Vikas, submitted the status report in Bhiwani court on December 5 and informed the court that the deceased woman's handwriting did not match with the answer sheets. "On August 13, answer sheets of the woman's fifth semester and her diary were sent to a forensic science laboratory in Delhi for verification of handwriting and authenticity. On September 8, we received an FSL report and the handwriting of answer sheets did not match with that of the deceased. After receiving the report, new sections- 338, 336 and 340 of the BNS were invoked in the FIR registered on December 27, 2024, under Sections 108, 3(5) and 238-B of the BNS against Hanuman and his son Rahul. An investigation is on in the case," the DSP said in the status report....