No breakthrough in medical aspirant death case; SIT expands probe ambit
PATNA, Jan. 20 -- With no breakthrough yet in the medical aspirant's mysterious death so far, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Bihar police has intensified probe into the case on the specific points recommended by the police headquarters, said a senior police official associated with the investigation.
Though the police are convinced on the basis of death summary from doctors, who treated her, that it was a case of Benzodiazepine-opiate poisoning, they have increased the ambit of probe based on the sexual assault possibility shown in the post mortem report of the medical board of the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).
The police headquarters has sought opinion on the PMCH's post mortem report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna on specific points -- age of sexual injury and reason for bruises on the private parts. The report is awaited.
On the other hand, the police have also sent the samples for toxicology examination to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Patna. ADG, CID, Paras Nath, who is part of the investigation, said that the report would come in a week's time. The FSL comes under the CID. "The FSL team had visited the spot and collected samples, which have been sent for examination. The report is expected in a week's time," he said.
Besides, samples have also been sent to the PMCH for histopathology, which is usually done as part of a post-mortem examination (autopsy) to determine or confirm the exact cause of death. It is crucial in cases of sudden, suspicious, or unexplained deaths, such as identifying myocarditis (heart inflammation), fat embolisms, or microscopic evidence of injuries.
The weaker section wing of the police headquarters, which deals with cases of crime against women and children, has issued a 61-point advisory to the SIT to investigate if there was sexual assault, who did it, when and where, besides zeroing in on the circumstances leading to such an extreme step by the girl.
"The police investigation is going on treating it as an open case to ascertain all aspects. Overdose of sleeping pills is what the treating doctors have found out, but it is not known the circumstances under which she took it or was made to take it," said another police official.
The police found three empty strips of Benzodiazepine and opiate. Benzodiazepine are sleeping pills and fatalities are rare with single-drug overdose, but can be fatal if mixed with other central nervous system (CNS) depressants like opiates or alcohol and lead to severe respiratory depression, coma, and death, said a forensic expert.
A senior police official said that considering the sensitivity of the case, the SIT has been tasked to investigate all aspect, including the girl's trauma, if any, and the reasons behind that, as she had been picked up from the hostel by three persons, including her parents on December 26 last, and she returned by train on January 5 on her own, while she was found unconscious in her room the other day.
"The CCTV footage of the past one month of the hostel has been examined and there was no illegal entry or suspicious activities noticed. The girl was taken to Dr Shahjanand's hospital by the hostel caretaker Neetu, where the doctors advised her to take the patient to higher centre due to her serious condition, but Neetu took her to Prabhat Memorial Hospital, where the patient was treated for four days before being again shifted to Medanta Hospital by the family members after her condition deteriorated," the official said.
What exactly happened with the girl still remains mired in mystery, which the SIT is trying to unravel amid mounting pressure.
"The Prabhat Memorial Hosital informed Kadam Kuan police station about the incident on January 6 itself, but from there it was sent to Chitraguptanagar police station about the medico-legal case, as the hostel fell in that jurisdiction," said a family member....
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