17-Dec-2012
Police seek court’s nod to take his buccal swabs
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The city police on Tuesday said they suspected that one
Suresh Babu, a 38-year-old inpatient, was responsible for the murder of a
60-year-old Andhra Pradesh native, tentatively identified as Venkateshappa, at
the State Mental Health Centre (SMHC) here on December 4.
A magistrate court had referred Venkateshappa to the SMHC after the police
arrested him near Kilimanoor on December 2 on the charge of behaving violently
in public. Investigators said that Venkateshappa and Suresh Babu, a native of
Thirupuram near Poovar, were confined in the same cell. Hospital janitors found
Venkateshappa dead on December 4 afternoon. The SMHC authorities reported the
matter to the local police and transferred the body to the Medical College
Hospital mortuary.
The police initially reported the incident as a case of suspicious death. A
subsequent forensic examination confirmed murder. Injuries on neck and head had
caused his death.
Satnam’s case The police said Venkateshappa’s death could not be compared to
the custodial death of a law student from Bihar, Satnam Singh, at the same
institution early this year. The Crime Branch, which probed Satnam Singh’s
murder, had arraigned six persons, including hospital staff, as accused in the
case.
It had blamed the illegal practice of using “cured” patients, mostly convicts
or under-trials, to subdue violent inmates as the reason for Satnam’s death. In
comparison, the police said, so far, no SMHC staff had been found to have any
role in Venkateshappa’s murder.
The prime suspect in the case, Suresh Kumar, had been reported missing from his
house at Poovar for over a month.
A magistrate court had sent him to the SMHC after the Museum police detained
him on the charge of showing aggression in public. His wife told the police
that Suresh, a manual labourer, had been under psychiatric care for long. He
was often sleepless but rarely violent, according to her. The police said they
had sought the court’s permission to take “buccal swabs”, from the cheek of the
suspect, to extract his DNA for comparison with the “debris”, (skin, hair,
blood, etc.), collected from the body of the victim, particularly his
fingernails. Forensic pathologists, who conducted the post-mortem examination
on Venkateshappa’s body, told the police that multiple actions of aggression
and defence had preceded his death.
They have ruled out the use of any weapon or blunt instrument in the murder.
The police would question the doctors and staff at the SMHC as part of their
investigation on Monday. Circle Inspector, Peroorkada, R. Pratapan, headed the
investigation.
The State police have contacted their counterparts in Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh to locate Venkateshappa’s address. So far, no one has claimed his body.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/smhc-murder-suspicion-falls-on-cellmate/article4209135.ece
17-Dec-2012
A disgrace to Kerala, says expert
KOLLAM : Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, national president of the Indian Psychiatric
Society, has called for urgent intervention of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in
the state of affairs of the State Mental Health Centre in Thiruvananthapuram
following the death of two inmates in four months. Dr. Abraham told The Hindu
on Sunday that the murders had brought disgrace to Kerala. A 64-year-old
mentally challenged man, identified as Venkateshappa, was killed at the SMHC on
December 4. In similar circumstances, Satnam Singh Mann was killed in August
this year.
Dr. Abraham said Venkateshappa’s murder was a crime against humanity. The
forensic ward of SMHC, where Venkateshappa was admitted, had only 24 cells.
Each cell would have at least 60 to 65 patients. Often, these patients became
violent.
Dr. Abraham said the failure of the authorities to post enough personnel to
supervise the ward was criminal negligence. This meant that they gave little
value to patients’ lives. The State had taken custody of Venkateshappa and it
was duty-bound to protect him. Instead of knee-jerk reactions such as
transferring the hospital superintendent, committed efforts with long-term
goals, must be made, he said.
Says there are few supervisors at mental centre ‘It was duty of the State to
protect victim’
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