Dowry death a suicide

Jamshedpur, Jan. 5: The post-mortem report has revealed that the woman, who was found hanging in her in-law?s house yesterday, had committed suicide and was not murdered, as was claimed by her family.

The family members of the deceased, Ananti Devi (19), had alleged that her husband Ranjan Prasad, alias Dilip, and his family had murdered the woman. The wife of eight months was killed in a dowry-related incident, they claimed.

But sources in the forensic science department of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital claimed there were no signs to suggest that the victim was forcibly hanged or even tortured.

The experts who performed the post-mortem have ruled out any possibility of the use of force in hanging the deceased.

?Investigation of the body clearly showed that the woman hung herself, contrary to the belief of her family members,? said one of the experts.

The forensic experts, however, did not rule out that the woman could have been instigated to commit suicide. ?This has to be investigated by the police,? they added.

The deceased?s family had insisted that Devi was murdered, police sources said, and so every care was taken to see if this could be true.

Generally, a single expert does the post-mortem in case of a suicide. But in this case, two doctors were appointed for this purpose and the process was recorded on video for future references.

Officer-in-charge of Birsanagar police station said Dilip, his father Kali Sah and brother Raj Kumar ? who arrested on the basis of the FIR lodged by Devi?s family ? were forwarded to judicial custody today.

?A case of dowry torture has been registered against them. Police are investigating and if the husband and in-laws are innocent, it will become clear soon,? he added.