TheIndian EXPRESS

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THURSDAY I APRIL 25 I 2013

Laboratory of murder clues

How Agra police cracked the murder of a researcher and arrested a student who they say had been stalking her
ANANYA BHARDWAJ E SLIPPED into the laboratory, where she was working late, according to the polices reconstruction of the March 15 murder. She reportedly told him to leave her alone. The moment she turned her back, police say, he pressed to her nose a handkerchief soaked with chloroform. Neha Sharma, 27, fought back, police have concluded from the signs of the struggle at the laboratory at Agras DayalbaghEducationalInstitute,where she was a research student. Her shirt was found ripped off, with the killer apparently intending rape, though police believe murder had always been part of his plan. They say she slapped him, and hepickedupapapercutterwithmultiple blades and slashed at her. The postmortem would find 12 cuts, some 3 cm deep, and one on the throat 4 cm. When the last blade came off, he pickedupasurgicalbladeandcontinued slashing until the intestines came out, a police officer said, after arresting Uday Swarup, also 27, and in BSc third year. Police say Uday, whose grandfather heads the group that runs the institute, had one of four keys to the lab, the other three being with Neha, her research guide and lab technician Yashwir Sandhu, who has been arrested on charges of helping Uday destroy evidence. For 20 minutes, according to the police reconstruction, the killer sat by the body, before picking up tissue sheets to wipe the floor. He used a bar of soap, too, later recovered along with the tissues, while stains across the floors of two rooms indicated how he had chased her. Police also cite evidence of the murder having been planned: The killer wore a rubber glove on one hand. He apparently decided to leave the removalofevidenceuntilthenextmorning. Nehas slippers were found inside the lab; had the killer left them outside, thesewouldhavebetrayedherpresence inside. The lab was then locked up, with the killer allegedly telling the technician to dump her car on the highway. They wanted it to seem Neha had left. The plan was to dump the body in a river early the next day, the officer said. Police say Uday then went to a

AGRA, APRIL 24

friends home and vomited repeatedly, unable to digest what he had done. This is according to what the friend has reportedly told the police. Two things gave the suspect away. One was bloodstained strands of hair that police found beside the body, and which they later matched against Udays hair. The other was the way the car was dumped. Police found it that very night, leading to the discovery of the murder. Headlights shining, the drivers seat pushed back, and its ownership papers inside, the Alto stood on Khelgaon Marg, barely 200 m from the institute. Police went through the papers and contacted Nehas father, who told them she often worked late at the lab. Inside, police found the mutilated body. Nehas mother told us she had called her and a male voice had answered, said Subhash Chand Dubey, SSP, Agra. He told her Neha had gone to the market and would call back. After awhile,herphonecouldntbereached... We knew an insider was involved. Police collected hair samples from 500 students and staff and looked for a match. The search narrowed down to 13 suspects, and Udays samples allegedly provided a perfect match. The police also recorded Udays voice. When Nehas mother heard the clip, she identified the voice as the one that had answered Nehas phone, the SSPsaid.Butwewaitedfortheforensic report on the hair before making the arrests (on Tuesday).

Money in Saudi treasury for four decades, debate in Kerala now

SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 24

THE DISCOVERY

THE OBSTACLES

Police say they always suspected Uday but struggled to find people who would testify against him. They add some students had seen the technician drive Nehas car but were reluctant to report that, too. A senior officer said evidence kept cropping up at sites where after earlier searches had revealed nothing. The first day, we could not find Nehas laptop anywhere. The next day, it was recovered from the shrubs 50 m from the lab, all data deleted, he said. The third day, her mobile was found 40 m

Uday arrives for his exams Wednesday; Neha (inset). EXPRESS from the lab; it had not been there the first day. All logs and messages had been erased. The police got the content restored at the CBI laboratory in Ghaziabad. Udays grandfather, Prem Kumar, is a retired IAS officer and now the president of Radha Swami Satsangi Community, which runs the institute. Kumar is next to the guru in the communitys hierarchy. The boy is innocent and is being framed, Kumar told The Indian Express. It is true that he often went to the lab to surf the Internet, but on the day of the unfortunate incident, he had left by 4.45 pm. He was applying for internships and went to meet his seniors. Even the laboratory head agrees he didnt go to the lab that day. The institutes authorities denied a police allegation that they did not cooperate in the investigation. The unfortunateincidenthasbroughttheinstitute a bad name. Why would we not cooperate with police? said V G Das, director of the institute. We were eager that the culprit should be caught. We sent a plea to the high court requesting that unless thepolicefoundtheculpritin15days,the case should be transferred to the CBI. A member of the Satsangi community accused the police of harassment. Uday and another boy approached the highcourtallegingthattheywerebeaten upandgivenelectricshocksduringquestioning, he said. Police sources concede cases of harassment have been filed against them. Police say the records in Nehas mobile, once retrieved, included inappropriate messages from Uday, and up to 50 calls a day at odd hours. Nehas elder sister, Kirti, told The Indian Express that Neha had told her about Udays persistent calls and the way he would leer at her, but she dared not complain. Neha had been with the institute for seven years and bagged several academic awards. She was working on a Rs1-crore research project on antibodies. Uday frequently went to the lab, supposedly to surf the Internet, which is how he got one of the keys. Nehas research guide, Amla Chopra, said he had told her he wanted to apply for a summer course and needed the laboratory connection, since the Internet is banned inside the institutes residential colony. Uday appeared in the institute exams on Wednesday, under escort.

THE STALKER

The lab where Neha was murdered, now sealed.

RAVI KANOJIA

week

P R A D E S H

LECTUREONUNLEARNING
JAIRAM RAMESH last week advised young professional selected as the Prime Ministers Rural Development Fellows to assist collectors in backward districts to unlearn all the garbage that has been put into you in professional schools. He advised them against using expressions like developmental paradigm, and added that long hair and a long beard dont necessarily make one a genius. He had once discarded the convocation gown, calling it a colonial relic, and at the same institute later described himself as a Raavan of development while he was the environment minister.

THE OTHER SIDE OF QUICK SERVICE LEGISLATION

THE PUBLIC services delivery guarantee

WHEN NOT TO SUBJECT A WOMAN TO A SEARCH

IN A RECOMMENDATION sparked by the

legislation, first enacted by the state and later picked up by other states as well as the Centre, seems to have got on the nerves of tehsildars, the important revenue functionaries. They have announced that they will stop abiding by the landmark legislation if their own demands are not fulfilled, such as better infrastructure to enable them to guarantee delivery of services in time, and time-bound promotions. Nearly 150 tehsildars have been fined for delayed execution of works. They want the government to roll back the fines, a key provision in the act that forces government employees to execute works in time or pay a fine that ranges from Rs 250 to Rs 5,000.

recent humiliation of a woman, the states commission for women has asked private security personnel employed at malls to check bags of visitors only when the metal detector beeps. The commission said security personnel should never use hands; if a personal search is unavoidable, it should be done only after calling in the police. The recommendation came in the wake of an incident in Indore where a young girl was stripsearched by female guards and was then found not to be carrying anything objectionable. It led to a public outcry. The womens commission has also recommended a ban on film songs in school buses.
MILIND GHATWAI

IN THE middle of the 19th century, a scholar from Keralas Malabar region built a shelter in Mecca for Haj pilgrims from his region. The shelter shifted location once but remained in Mecca for over a century, until the Saudi Arabia government demolished it in 1968. As compensation, the government deposited 1.40 million riyals in its treasury. The money has remained there since, with no heir identified. Four decades on, two families in Kerala are disputing who, if anyone, should claim the money. The scholars family says no one has such a right. His in-laws descendants say they are the legal heirs. The state government has initiated steps to help find a resolution. How much the money translates into is not clear. The scholars family says there cannot be interest in Saudi Arabia, but what isnt clear is whether the amount will be adjusted for inflation since 1972. Neither the Kerala government nor the family would hazard a guess at its value in rupees. The shelter, Keyi Rubat, was built by scholar Mayinkutty Keyi. Until then, pilgrims from the Malabar region (now North Kerala) had to put up in difficult conditions. In 1956, as part of a mosque extension project, the Saudi government demolished the rubat and allotted it another area. It was rebuilt there with three buildings with 21 rooms. In 1968, it was pulled down permanently on account of a development programme. The deposit of 1.40 million riyals in Saudi Arabias treasury was made in 1970, a document with the Kerala government shows. On November 28, 1972, following enquiries by the Saudi government on who should inherit it, the Kerala government reported to the Centre that Mayinutty Keyi had no heirs. This too is being disputed now, one family saying he had a son and the other denying it. The dispute cropped up in March 2012, when members of the Keyi family, based in Thalassery of North Kerala, held a press conference. They alleged that members of the Arakkal family of Kannur, erstwhile royals and descendants of Mayinkutty Keyis in-laws, had forged documents hoping to pocket the compensation. The Keyi family petitioned the chief minister and the state waqf board to look into the matter. The Arakkal familys say Keyi had a son. Its members claim they are the legal heirs, since the royal family followed the matrilineal system. Members of the Keyi family insist Mayinkutty had no children. They are of the opinion that neither of the two families has a right to the amount, since it was waqf property. C P Alippy Keyi, who represents the scholars family, said the Saudi government had in 1970 asked his relatives C V Alippy Keyi and Moithu Keyi, through the district administration, about the compensation. They refused to accept the money on the ground that it was waqf property. Once a property is given to waqf, it is given forever, Alippy Keyi said. We are of the opinion that the compensation should be used for building a new centre for Haj pilgrims. From the Arakkal family, Salam Hajji said, The Saudi government is ready to give any amount to clear the matter in Mecca. Why should the Keyi family object to that? We have documents to prove that Mayinkutty Keyi had a son. Since the Arakkal

family follows the matrilineal system, we have the right to the amount. About the government report that Mayinkutty Keyi had no legal heirs, Hajji alleged that the Keyi family was behind such reports. We will soon submit a memorandum to nodal officer T O Sooraj, Hajji said. Sooraj is the Kerala governments PWD secretary. He has been assigned the task of looking into the matter. He told The Indian Express that the Consul General of India in Jeddah has advised the Kerala government to identify the legal heirs, if any, to the amount. The Kerala government is keen to use the money to fund rubat-like premises, with facilities for pilgrims. Keyi family sources cited from history to press their case for using the money for pilgrims. As per a sharia court ruling in Saudi Arabia following Mayinkutty Keyis death, the family sources said, Moosa Muhamed Malbari was appointed caretaker of the rubat. It was stated in that deed that the rubat should be

HOW MUCH

Rs 2 CR

SAUDI RIYAL 1.4 million, according to online converters based on curent values. The exact rupee equivalent varies from website to website.

THE FAMILY VIEW

One cannot make wild guesses... what I heard three years ago was that the amount was less than Rs 500 crore. Saudi Arabia does not give any interest, says C P Alippy Keyi, whose forefather had built the shelter

GOVERNMENT SAYS...

We don't know the present value of the deposit. It would be hypothetical cite any figures at this stage. The Saudi government has not disclosed any particulars about the present value...

used for Haj pilgrims and the revenue from rent during the lean period should be used for supplying food during the month of Ramzan. That shows the charitable objective and establishes that the rubat was waqf property,says Alippy Keyi. Kerala State Waqf Board member advocate P V Sainudheen agreed the amount should be utilised for the welfare of Haj pilgrims, as envisaged by Mayinkutty Keyi. As per Islamic laws, it cannot be taken back, he said. On June 18, 2012, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wrote to the Consul General of India in Jeddah, The state government is of the view that the compensation for acquiring Keyi Rubat should be exclusively used for Haj purpose of pilgrims from Kerala. The original sale deed and waqf deed relating to the property of Keyi Rubat are available neither with the Kerala Haj Committeen nor with the descendants of the Keyi family. According to nodal officer Sooraj, if there is an heir for the property, the families will have to appoint a muthavally (manager), who in turn will have to appoint a Saudi citizen with a power of attorney for the transfer of funds from the treasury.

this

One former child bride wins all victims the right to a govt job
MILIND GHATWAI
BHOPAL, APRIL 24

M A D H Y A

A RELENTLESS legal battle by a woman married at 14 has culminated in Madhya Pradesh dropping a rule that disqualified from government service those married as minors, even though they were the victims. I never lost hope and kept studying. I am very happy today, Ratnarashi Pande, now 36, told The Indian Express after the cabinet on Wednesday decided to do away with the rule. It was Ratnarashis petition

in the Supreme Court, resulting in notices to the government, that resulted in the rule change, a government spokesman confirmed. She was the only person to move the Supreme Court, he said. The rule had been introduced in 2002 as a deterrent against child marriage, which is rampant in the state. It ended up working against the victims rather than those who had forced them into such marriages. The Congress has slammed the move. PCC chief Kantilal Bhuria said the Congress had introduced the rule to

put an end to child marriage. Parents in rural areas will now be encouraged to marry their children off at an early age, Bhuria said. Now divorced and mother of two, Ratnarashi was not even allowed to appear for the state services examination. She first moved the high court, which dismissed her petition on the ground that rule 6 (5) had been introduced to the M P Civil Services Rules to provide an effective deterrent against child marriage. Ratnarashi then moved the Supreme Court, which issued notices

Ratnarashi Pande: Married at 14, divorced, denied a job

to the state government and the state services commission and asked them to keep one post vacant. The matter is slated for final hearing in July. Intent on standing on her feet, Ratnarashi had lived and studied in Bilaspur, leaving her two children in the care of her mother in their family home in Viveknagar, about 12 km from Anuppur. The M P Service Commission did not even accept her examination forms, forcing her to approach the court only for appearing in the preliminary examination. She has done that thrice. She

failed to clear the mains once, the result of one examination is yet to be announced, while the third is subject to a pending court case. She is very bright and always hopeful, lawyer Neela Gokhale said of her client. She said there was a need to quash one more rule, which disqualifies women from jobs if they marry a man who is already married. I have been studying but my ability to concentrate suffered because of the uncertainty about the examination, said Ratnarashi, a science graduate and arts postgraduate.