It’s been two months since the High Court asked the state government to conduct an inquiry into the death of Babita Gawde of Bicholim after the police had passed it off as a death due to illness.
Noinquiry has commenced though.
Thestate advocate general A N S Nadkarni has informed the High Court that a judicialmagistrate would hold the inquiry into the alleged custodial death of SmtRajani alias Kalyani alias Babita Gawade.
Attemptsto include false information in the postmortem report of Babita Gawade will beinvestigated by the judicial magistrate. Even after being given a time frame offour weeks by the court the state government is sitting on the order dated June14, 2012 of the HC.
Thestate decided to investigate the alleged custodial death case, after humanright activist Jowett D’souza filed a petition in the High Court, seeking theintervention of the honorable court. Jowett, in his petition, said that Babita Gawdewas arrested in the murder case Babu Motte (50) resident of Dhangarwada Bicholim.He mentioned that on the day of the murder, Babita was admitted in the Bicholimprimary health center.
TheFIR of the Bicholim police mentioned that the murder took place between February25 - 26. D’Souza said that Babita was inthe Bicholim health center from February 22 till March 2, 2011, when the murderof Motte took place.
The police inspector Harish Madkaikar had stated contrary tothe documents and the records of Bicholim PHC that Babita Gawde was dischargedfrom the PHC on February 24 2011. However she did not leave the hospital andremained in the hospital, on February 25 2011 and around 8pm after dinner sheleft the hospital and returned after two hours with clothes all wet. Madkaikaralso stated that some of the witnesses had noticed Gawde at the place of theoffence.
