Rape? Bengaluru girl bleeds to death, Assam minister’s son grilled

Bengaluru: An Assam minister's son and three of his associates were summoned by the Sanjay Nagar police and their statements recorded in a suspected case of gangrape of a 10-year-old girl, who died after she was brought to MS Ramaiah Hospital with rectal bleeding on June 6.

“The deceased minor was brought dead by her mother to the hospital's emergency room, and the body was shifted to the Forensics Department for the postmortem,” said a doctor, requesting anonymity. "I heard that it was a case of rape and there was commotion in the casualty ward. Though she was said to be bleeding, I did not see her," said the doctor.

But quite mysteriously, the city police are now claiming that the girl died of complications due to dengue fever after she was admitted to the casualty ward, and that she was not declared "brought dead".

The victim's mother, her brother and friends stay together at a house in Bhoopasandra. Sources alleged that the 10-year-old victim was sexually assaulted by more than one person, who were all known to her mother.

The doctors at Ramaiah Hospital suspected something amiss as the victim was brought dead to the hospital with her private parts bleeding. The doctors refused to believe the mother's version that the girl had fever and diarrohea, and alerted the police after a gynaecologist and a pediatrician examined the dead girl. The body was then shifted to the Forensic Department for a post-mortem.

Based on the mother's complaint and the doctors' suspicion, the Sanjay Nagar police summoned Rituraj Phukan, son of Pranati Phukan, the minister of Handloom & Textiles, Sericulture & Cultural Affairs in Assam, Pallav Phukan and two others and recorded their statements, police at Sanjay Nagar police station said.

"There was no mention of sexual assault in the mother's complaint. In her statement to the police, she alleged that her daughter was suffering from fever and dysentery and she was taken to multiple hospitals before being brought to Ramaiah Hospital," Mr T.R. Suresh, DCP (North), told Deccan Chronicle. "The four men are partners in a marketing business firm in Sanjay Nagar and Pallav Phukan had employed the mother as an office assistant," he said.

Dr Basappa Hugar, who conducted the post-mortem on the victim on Saturday, confirmed that the 10-year-old victim was bleeding from the rectum. "The required visceral organs have been sent for pathology and forensic science laboratories, and the test results are expected on Saturday. The report will be submitted to the police. The postmortem was done in a hurry and blood for dengue testing was drawn from the deceased's body. All the standard protocols were followed," said Dr Hugar.

The victim and her mother stayed at Nagashettyhalli and the girl's body was taken to Mumbai for final rites, the police said.

Unanswered questions:

Several questions remain unanswered in the horrific incident. Why were the police not forthcoming with details of the people questioned and their statements? Why did the mother tell the doctors that the victim was suffering from dengue?