Newskarnataka – Mangalore

by Sandhya S

Mangalore:  The Panambur police on Friday April 4 have registered murder case in connection with  the death of Rohit, a 22-year-old medical student who had died under mysterious circumstances on March 23.

Earlier the police had argued that the death was a case of an accident.The police had summarized that Rohit was speeding in his Pulsar bike and must have hit the tree when his head must have got severed from the rest of the body having hit the branch of a tree due to the speed. They derived at a point as the blue Pulsar bike which Rohit was supposedly riding, had fallen a few meters away from his body near an electric pole.

On Thursday April 3, on questioning about the case, the Commissioner of Police R Hitendra, stated, “We are ready to convert the case into murder case, a return complaint need to be filed and thus a FIR will be launched.”

However, on Friday April 4 the case has been converted into murder and the investigation is on. The police commissioner had formed a number of different teams of to investigate  the case. As the police came across some suspicious evidences during the preliminary inquiries, they had even gone to Kollam to get a fresh complaint from Rohit’s parents.

The Case:

It may be recalled that the 22-year-old Rohit, a final year medical student of a college in the city was murdered under inexplicable conditions on March 23 at Tannir Bavi.The locals located the body in the morning hours after which the police was called.

Though the police claimed that the gruesome death of Rohit from Kerala was a result of an accident, his family members suspect that foul play was involved. Thus they urged the Home Minister in a letter stating their version and the areas of suspicion which point out that the death was a murder case. 

Friends’ Version:

According to Rohit’s three friends, they had gone out for dinner together on March 22 and then decided to go to Tannir Bavi beach. On the way to beach they found Rohit missing; however on not finding him they went to Rohit’s flat had food and slept.  They also said that next morning they went out to search for him again and came upon his dead body.When police questioned they assumed that Rohit had gone to buy cigarettes at Tannir Bavi when he went speeding in the bike as shops are open in Tannir Bavi till 11.30 pm.

Parents’ Question:

Parents of Rohit,  M S Radhakrishnan, an advocate and Dr Sreedevi, a paediatrician,  both working in Bahrain, have argued and questioned stating that, “How could they go and sleep in Rohit’s flat without worrying why their friend had not returned? What did they do with the food? Did they eat even when their friend failed to return? What happened to Rohit’s share of food? If he was missing why did they not inform the police or others concerned? Why did they lock the flat before sleeping when they knew their friend had not returned and the wallet, car key and keys of Rohit’s flat were with them? Why did they not check Rohit’s whereabouts even at 8 am the next morning when Rohit failed to come back? Even after coming to the scene of the crime they did not come forward to own   responsibility about the victim or about the bike? These friends had also put up a feeble defence that they believed Rohit had gone to buy cigarettes at Tannir Bavi when he went speeding in the bike. Can anyone tell them which cigarette shops are open in Tannir Bavi at 11.30 pm? Does it not sound fishy?” his parents ask.

Relatives seeking answers:

Rohit’s cousin Kiran has stated that if the head was severed by a branch of the tree the branch should be thin or sharp to have that severing effect, which is not the case with Rohit’s accident. He said that if the body and head was moving at a high speed, as the police argued, both the body and head will continue moving even after the impact of the accident and therefore the head should have rolled like a ball after the accident and would accumulate dust, debris and sand in the process, but Rohit’s severed head was found in a clean state which is questionable.

Questions still remain about the actual cause of the death of Rohit, Is it an accident or a murder as  suspected by the police now. Only a thorough investigation will throw light to facts.