In a scathing indictment of custodial violence, a Bengaluru court recently convicted four police personnel for causing the death of Mahendra Singh Rathod, a 42-year-old man, at the Jeevan Bima Nagar police station in 2016. The court also observed that deliberate attempts were made to cover up the crime.
The convicted police personnel are head constable Ajaz Khan and constables Keshav Murthy, Mohan Ram, and Siddappa Bommanahalli. A single judge bench of the Additional City Civil and Sessions court, headed by judge Yashawanth Kumar, observed that the police did not recover the weapons that were used to torture the victim. The case, initially registered as an unnatural death, was reclassified as culpable homicide not amounting to murder, after the CID conducted an investigation.
The case dates back to March 2016, when Mahendra Singh Rathod was working with Baruka Steel and Services Ltd., owned by Ramesh Chandra Purohith. He had been working there for more than a decade and also tended to Ramesh's household. On March 17, 2016, Ramesh discovered that Rs 3.6 lakh went missing from his home. He alleged that Mahendra stole the money and filed a complaint with the police.
At 10.30 am on March 19, Mahendra was taken to the JB Nagar police station by constable Prakash Rathod and Siddappa Bommanahalli, who has now been convicted in the case. By 6.30 pm, Mahesh complained of chest pain and breathing difficulties and was rushed to CMH Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The post-mortem report revealed severe injuries, including swelling across his body, fractures, and “tram track contusions” – which are injuries indicative of blunt-force trauma.
The autopsy revealed that Mahendra suffered from sickle cell disease, which made him more vulnerable to injuries. The post-mortem report stated that his death was caused by a vaso-occlusive crisis in multiple organs triggered by physical exertion. Vaso-occlusive crisis means the blood cells get stagnated at the peripheral part of inner blood vessels causing blockage. The accused police personnel argued that he died because of pre-existing conditions.
The court observed that his body had “tram track contusions”, which is a specific injury characterised by parallel, linear bruises resulting from blunt force trauma. The doctors who conducted the autopsy deposed before the court that tram track contusions suggest repeated blows or strikes and the parallel nature of bruises indicate use of objects with parallel edges.
The doctors said while these types of injuries directly do not cause death in normal individuals, it can cause physical exertion leading to hypoxemia (low level of oxygen in blood) and metabolic acidosis (too much acid in blood) triggering sickling crisis in a person who has sickle cell disease.
The court observed that his sickle-cell anemia condition was precipitated by the physical stress of the assault. “...it is highly unlikely that tram track contusions (bruises) were caused due to sickle cell anemia. Further, there are abrasions and a fracture of the 5th metatarsal bone [in the feet]. There is nothing to show that sickle cell anemia will cause such abrasions and fracture,” the court ruled. Though there was no intention to cause the death of Mahendra Rathod, there was knowledge that the act was likely to cause death, the court said.
The judgment sharply criticised procedural violations, including a delayed FIR and tampering with records. “Though there was an entry in the lockup guard register about keeping the deceased in the lockup, he was not kept there,” the court noted, citing the testimony of an accused, who was in the lockup during the same time period.
The court also underscored the suspicious delay in filing the FIR, which it termed as a clear attempt to manipulate the narrative around Mahendra’s detention and death. While he was brought to the police station at 10.30 am, the court found that the FIR against him was registered only after he was taken to the hospital in the evening. CCTV footage showed Mahesh being taken to the police station in the morning, contradicting station diary entries that claimed he was brought in the afternoon.
The court highlighted the failures in the investigation, particularly the lack of effort to recover the weapons used during the assault. “No effort was made to recover lathis or rollers,” the judgment said, adding, “It appears that it is only to protect the accused” and “a deliberate act to protect the accused.” The court also said that the CCTV footage showing the accused taking Rathod to the back of the police station for interrogation and later shifting him to the hospital was also incomplete.
“There are inconsistencies in the evidence of police witnesses as to what happened in the police station. However, in spite of the same, the circumstances of the case clearly shows the involvement of the accused persons in the case,” the verdict observes.
“In the present case the evidence clearly shows that the deceased was last seen with the accused persons at the time of taking him towards the backside of the police station before he fell sick or unconscious,” it said. Thereafter, he was shifted from the police station to the hospital by the accused persons. In the hospital he was seen with the injuries as noted in the PM [post-mortem] report. “Therefore, it is for the accused persons to explain how the deceased sustained injuries. But there is no explanation for the same from the accused persons,” the court said, while convicting the four police personnel.
The court found the accused policemen guilty under Section 304 Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), read with Section 34 (common intention). The court sentenced the convicts to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of seven years, and pay a fine of Rs 30,000 each. In default of payment of fine amount, they shall further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year. For the offence punishable under section 304 Part II of IPC, they were sentenced to a period of five years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 each. In case of defaulting on fine they shall further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year.
In addition, each of the accused have been directed to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the dependents of the deceased. It also recommended the District Legal Service Authority, Bengaluru City to determine a compensation for the family.