Rape case accused missing, Mysuru police start probe

Bengaluru: The Mysuru police, who are probing the rape and dowry harassment case filed by the daughter of a retired IAS officer, issued notice to the accused involved in the case asking them to appear before the investigating officer for questioning.  While one of the family members of the accused claimed that the accused trio was questioned, the police said that they did not appear for questioning.

An officer told Deccan Chronicle that the investigations were on, but refused to reveal whether there will be any arrests in the case soon. “The investigations are on. As the accused in the case are not in their house and are absconding, we had served a notice at the hospital run by them. They were asked to be present before the investigating officer on Monday. Till Monday evening, they had not turned up,” the officer said.

The investigating team also conducted a mahajar at the spot, where the incident allegedly took place. “We conducted the spot mahajar as part of the probe and collected evidence. Also, some of the workers at the house and staff of the hospital run by the accused were questioned. This is to know whether they had any knowledge of the alleged dowry harassment of the victim. We also asked them whether the complainant had shared a cordial relation with the accused people,” the officer said.

Mysuru Police Commissioner M.A. Saleem said that a special team has been formed to conduct the investigation. Asked whether the accused were absconding, he said it was not appropriate to divulge any information. Based on a case transferred by the Indiranagar police in Bengaluru, the V.V. Puram police in Mysuru have registered a fresh FIR, in which Prabudha Harsha Murthy, Dr. C.B. Murthy and his wife Nalina Murthy have been named as accused.

The victim, along with her husband, will go to her in-law’s house in V.V. Puram in Mysuru on Tuesday. She will accompany the investigating officers for a mahajar at the spot of crime and collection of further evidence.

He raped my daughter, why isn’t he in jail: Retired IAS officer

Whatever the property disputes between the family members, these have got nothing to do with the rape of the victim, says the retired IAS officer, who is the father of the victim. “This is just a campaign of vilification and character assassination, diverting the attention from the main case, throwing doubts in the minds of the public and creating an opinion favourable to them so that they can get bail in the court. These are the usual tactics of influential people. Money power and political power are both being used in this case,” he said.

“Now they are trying to prove that the whole issue was about money and property. They are also putting the husband’s character in bad light, claiming that the victim’s character is not good. Now, the father-in-law too has joined in the fight. Whatever is the character of the person, it has got nothing to do with the complaint she has lodged. The Supreme Court has also said that the character of the victim is of no concern in any complaint he/she has lodged. This is even in a case of a rape of a prostitute. This is a settled thing in law that the character of the victim is of no consequence when it comes to the crime that she registers with the police. This is how sensitive cases of violence against women and rape are being tackled,” the victim’s father said.

“The victim is now being treated as the accused. The total reversal of the situation, and she is made to defend her own case now as the local media in Mysuru has already revealed the victim’s identity as well,” he said.

Sister of accused says rape, dowry harassment case concocted

The allegations of rape and dowry harassment are concocted, claims Dr Rashmi, who is the sister of the accused and the victim’s husband. “On November 11, 2014, it was somewhere towards evening when a fight erupted between the brothers. My younger brother verbally abused my mother and my elder brother did not like it. The elder one was only trying to stop him from talking like that when the younger brother assaulted him. My mother intervened and stopped, but the elder brother was assaulted badly enough to be taken to the hospital by my father, who came rushing back from the hospital. This was witnessed by the dhobi and a maidservant who were at home that day. The dispute was over sharing the properties and businesses that our family owns. It was not the first time that my two brothers had fought over it. There was definitely nothing else as mentioned by my sister-in-law in the police complaint,” she said.

The families of Murthys and the retired IAS officer know each other for over three decades and were good friends. “My sister-in-law is also our family member. We have known each other since childhood, since kindergarten. We would not think that she was a newcomer to our family. She was treated as a daughter and not a daughter-in-law. I still give a benefit of doubt to my sister-in-law as she is not the one who could make such serious allegations and lodge a police complaint,” Dr Rashmi said.

“There were some issues related to money and property like it happens in every family. My younger brother, his wife and her father were assured that the issue will be settled equally and amenably between the sons. But down the line, the demands got a little too much for my father to meet and all my father asked for was some time to sort things out. But by then, they have reacted this way,” Dr Rashmi told Deccan Chronicle.

“We are fully cooperating with the investigation. In fact, we spent around three-and-a-half hours this (Monday) afternoon and evening with the police at home. The investigating officer, with three other officers including a woman officer, came home. They started from the beginning and everything was videotaped and recorded. They grilled everybody at home, took the statements of my brother, father and mother and also of the servants, drivers and everybody and conducted a mahajar,” she said.