Shivamogga: A quiet town has turned violent. The mysterious death of a 14-year old girl on October 31st has set the town on fire, with communal undertones. Even as the State Government is yet to get to the bottom of the mystery, the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) and the ruling Congress party are trading charges, trivializing her death. 

The waters are further muddied by unverified rumor mongering about the alleged involvement of a Muslim boy, delay in registering the complaint by the parents, and a ‘fake death note’; together these have evoked varying theories on the circumstances of her death.

‘Mysterious death’

On the morning of 29th October, Nandita K.B (14) was waiting at the Shivamogga bus stop to board a bus to go to school, when a red Maruthi Omni ‘which had more than three stickers with Urdu script’ approached her. Among the three youth in the Omni, she knew one Muslim boy, as the elder brother of her classmate, Nandita’s father, Krishna, told a Kannada TV channel.

She was taken to Anandagiri hill, which is 5 kms away from her school, he says. The same day at 2 pm, two women who had gone to collect firewood spotted the girl, who looked tense and terrified. The women took the girl to their house and called her parents. Krishna along with his relative Santhosh Poojary, who is incidentally a pro-Hindu activist, came to pick her up.  On that day, no case was registered.

In the early hours of October 30th, Nandita’s  father admitted her to the Thirthahalli Health Centre. “The previous night, after dinner, she repeatedly vomited several times. We did not suspect anything wrong. Later, we realized she was forced to consume poison”, says Nandita’s father. This was done after they attempted to rape her at the hill, he adds.

As Nandita’s health deteriorated, she was shifted to the Shivamogga district hospital and from there to the Manipal Hospital on October 31st. However, she died at 3.30pm.

Three days after the incident, Krishna registered a complaint against four unidentified persons of the Muslim community at Thirthahalli police station, alleging abduction, rape and murder of Nandita. “I did not register a complaint immediately, fearing for my daughter’s reputation in the society. Now she is dead and all I want is, the truth to surface”, Krishna says.

On November 3rd, the autopsy report from the Manipal Hospital confirmed that she was not raped.  “There is no evidence of sexual assault on her body”, it states.

The police are likely to register a case against Dr. Girish, who treated her first, for not informing the police, after Nandita was admitted to the health center. As per the norms, it was the duty of the doctor to register a medico-legal case. Girish clarified that Nandita was battling for life. “I was focused on saving her life”, he said.

‘Fake death note’

Meanwhile, there was a twist in the tale on November 1st. The police recovered a death note from her school bag. However, the parents of the girl do not believe it is genuine. They said, “The death note is a cooked-up story by the police and district in-charge minister Kimmane Ratnakar with the intention of protecting the culprits.”

In the death note, the girl is reported to have said that she was committing a mistake (of dying) because she was poor in studies. She apologized to her parents and asked her sister to fulfill their dreams. However, sources in Shivamogga police claimed that the FSL had confirmed that the death note was written by the girl. The handwriting in the suicide note has matched that of the girl, they stressed.

A poisonous reaction:

“Nandita was forced to consume poison by the culprits”, claims the complaint registered by Krishna, her father and it  further states that she reacted to the poison after dinner. Some who are following the case keenly contradict the complaint, asking, how the girl can react to the poison after a very long gap of time.

Local witnesses say that a relative had rebuked the girl, for speaking to a boy from another community despite warnings. Later, Krishna, who found out that her daughter was close to a Muslim boy, might have shouted at her. Upset, Nandita might have taken the extreme step of consuming some toxic substance in the house. Besides, there was no complaint registered till November 1st. Rightwing activists, on the other hand, claim it’s a case of love-jihad.

The aftermath, a rise in violence:

Following the girl’s death, local groups led by BJP leaders called for a Bandh in the area, alleging that a member of a minority community was involved in the incident. The rise in violence, in the surrounding localities, has frightened the minorities. Incidences of stone pelting on the mosque and targeting of Muslims during the protests, have given communal undertones to the case.

Political parties were not far behind in capitalizing on the confusion. They staged selective protests against atrocities on women necessitating imposition of Section 144, which is in force till November 10. The police have arrested about 44 protesters belonging to the local Hindu community till date.

Investigation:

The case is now being investigated by the CID. As a part of their investigations, the CID team led by Pranav Mohanty has already spoken to the two women, who first spotted the girl on the hill. The team has also spoken to the parents of Nandita.

Meanwhile, B S Yeddyurappa, former chief minister who visited Thirthahalli along with Shobha Karandlaje, the Udupi-Chikmagalur MP, claimed that an impartial probe will not be possible by CID due to the political pressure.  Reportedly backed by the BJP, Krishnappa, Nandita’s father has said that he was not happy with the CID probe and demanded the case to be handed over to the CBI, which the state government feels, is unnecessary at this stage.

Minister for primary education Kimmane Ratnakar, who hails from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga, said on Monday: “A grave injustice has happened to a girl and we are keen that justice is done. However, leaders of the BJP have been trying to give a communal color to the entire incident by stating that a boy from a minority community was involved.”

War of words:

Home  minister KJ George, on Thursday, lashed out at the media, for “highlighting rape incidents, to increase TRP’s”.

Hitting back, the state BJP president, K. S. Eshwarappa, stooped to a new low when he made personal attacks against CM Siddaramaiah and Home Minister, K. J. George. Reportedly he said in Bangalore that the home minister and the chief minister would not take any action even if their daughters were raped. He blamed that, “they (Siddaramaiah and George) have not arrested the accused yet. They are protecting the accused.

BJP president received all round condemnation for his ‘personal remarks’; the CM termed his comments uncivil and insensitive and claimed that he had belittled the prestige of the office of leader of the opposition in the legislative council.

The situation in the town is tense, but under control and the outcome of the investigation is keenly awaited, even as the political parties play the game of one-upmanship.

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