The Bombay High Court on Monday called for the original records in the case of teenaged Indu, who committed suicide allegedly after being ragged by seniors in Sophia College in 1998.
Seeking an explanation for the delay in disposing of the private complaint filed by CL Anto, Indu’s father, the court had earlier sought a report from the metropolitan magistrate, Girgaum. Last week, the magistrate issued summons to four senior police officers, including former commissioner of police (CP) Ronald Mendonca, former CP of
Thane D Sivanandan and ACP Venkatesam. The magistrate also issued summons to four of the 12 accused in the case and asked them to remain present in court on November 10. The magistrate also issued recall summons to Teresa and Janet Pinto, former principal and vice-principal of the college.
Although the police had concluded investigations in the case stating that the 16-year-old girl had committed suicide, her father maintained that she was harassed by her seniors in college, Melissa D’souza and Greta Colaco.
Indu’s death had shocked the city. The case was transferred from the Gamdevi police station to the CID by the then deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde. A committee appointed to examine the case had told the CID in 1999 that Indu’s death after falling from the college terrace on August 6, 1998, was a case of suicide.
On Monday, Justice SB Mhase and Justice AA Sayed sought the chargesheet and the case diary of the case and adjourned the case till Tuesday.
Anto filed a private complaint before the metropolitan magistrate in 2003 urging the court to try the accused with charges of murder along with that of abetment to suicide. He stated that the post-mortem report said his daughter’s body had 27 injuries.
