POW demands judicial probe into roja murder

Visakhapatnam: Progressive Organisation for Women (POW) and other organisations demanded a judicial inquiry into the mysterious death of Roja, whose body was found in a well, about five km from her home in Ananthavaram under Padmanabham mandal under the police commissionerate limits of the city on July 11, two days after she went missing.

Action against cops, revenue staff sought

The 22-year-old woman was married 10 days before her death. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, state general secretary of POW M Lakshmi said though the people from seven surrounding villages, her family members and relatives have shown enough evidence to prove it was a murder, the police and revenue officials instead making all out efforts to save the accused M Santosh and his friends of the same village.

She said the tahsildar, who came for the inquest in her report mentioned that Roja committed suicide, as she was forced to marry a person she disliked. The tahsildar also wrote that the villagers denied knowledge of death. During fact finding, it was found that the tahsildar collected thumb impressions of five people from the village stating that it was necessary for handing over the body.

“After staging massive dharnas and submission of petitions to the Commissioner of Police, the authorities conducted a repost-mortem 25 days after her death,’’ Lakhmi said. Subsequently, Santosh and his friends were arrested.

She said sub-inspector of Padmanabham police mentioned in his report that Santosh and Roja, after spending some time in a school, went to a temple in Darakonda, about five km from Ananthavaram to offer puja and while returning, Roja asked him to marry. When he refused, she got down from the motorcycle and jumped into the well.

``In fact the well was not located on the way to temple. It was far from the road on which they travelled,’’ Lakshmi said and added that if Roja wanted to end her life there were three wells close to her home.

The police are also hiding importance evidence-the mobile phone of Roja which was not found on the day her body was recovered. Few days later, the SI told them that they handed over the phone to the court without inquiring with her husband or parents for ownership verification.

Lakshmi said after finding Santosh cap in the well along with the body, it is evident that Roja had struggled with him to save her life but in vain.Only a judicial inquiry can establish the crime and book the culprits for murder, Lakshmi said. A case has been booked under section 306 and 497 of IPC after pressure built by the villagers. The main accused Santosh and five others are now under judicial custody.

The POW also demanded action against the police and revenue officials who were trying to dilute the case and establish it as a suicide.