CBI has task on hand, will have to probe many unanswered questions in mysterious death of Sweeney
Photo Credits: SWEENEY
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GMC'S FINAL VERDICT ON MATTER
The manner of death ie whether natural or unnatural could not be definitely concluded at autopsy and is for the investigating officer to determine based on investigation
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THE GOAN PROBES - II
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PANAJI: As the 3-member CBI team arrived in Goa today to take over the case pertaining to mysterious death of British charity worker Denyse Sweeney, the moot question that comes to the fore is why did Anjuna police show reluctance to register this case as murder for almost two years after her demise.
It appears that the inconclusive and doubtful autopsy report, the Forensic Science Laboratory reports and doctor’s opinion on the cause of death of the 34-year-old British citizen were at the root of Anjuna Police’s reluctance to register it as a murder case.
To begin with, post mortem report from GMC and viscera report, chemical analysis report and histiopathology report from Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Surat remained uncertain.
The doctor, who was treating Sweeney at St Anthony’s Hospital in Anjuna, cited aspiration, pneumonia, hypertension and drug overdose as the probable cause of death, citing history of drug use.
However, no drugs or poison were discovered in the viscera samples according to RFSL, Surat chemical analysis report received on December 12, 2011.
Initially, the post mortem report dated April 10, 2012 from Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim pointed to cerebral and pulmonary oedema as the cause of death.
Oedema is a condition characterised by an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavities or tissues of the body.
However, GMC later clarified on record that other causes could also have contributed to the oedema and remained inconclusive on the cause of oedema after autopsy.
The GMC team could also not confirm whether the internal head injury which caused her death was due to a fall or by a hit on the back of her head.
Black spots were noticed but there was no external injury on the head and there was no bleeding from the body.
During the inquest panchnama, the then PI Manjunath Desai noticed abrasions on her knees. These were dismissed by the doctors as being too small to cause death.
The panchnama conducted at the scene held that abrasions could have been caused by gravel (khadi) on the ground where Sweeney had fallen. Head injury also could have been caused due to contact with the outer wall of the building, a coconut tree near the toilet or the ground.
“The manner of death i.e. whether natural or unnatural could not be definitely concluded at autopsy and is for the investigating officer to determine based on investigation,” read GMC’s final verdict on the matter.
Nobody identified Sweeney to this point and her identity was confirmed by the police on the basis of her passport.
Anjuna police then proceeded to record the statement of ten people including, Bob Stutterd and another British national, Sean Carpenter. The list also comprised staff and managers of Primrose and Mango Tree restaurants, which she had visited along with Sean and Bob in the hours leading up to her demise.
In his statement, Bob said that he knew Sweeney since six weeks and that he had gone to Mango Tree restaurant at Vagator with Sean for drinks at 2 am on April 16, 2010. Sweeney joined them after a few minutes.
Bob stated that she was totally drunk and had Bacardi Breezers at the restaurant. Thereafter, at 2.45 am, he went to Primrose with Sweeney on a motorcycle. At the restaurant he went upstairs to play pool with Sean while Sweeney sat at the counter till a staff boy found her fallen near the toilet and alerted him.
Sean’s statement corroborated with Bob’s, except on one crucial point. Sean said that as he went upstairs, he saw Sweeney going towards the toilet. When they came down after an hour and at 6 am, he and Bob went to search for Sweeney.
Sean stated that he saw Sweeney “standing near the toilet with her body totally stiff. She was trying to talk something, but her speech was not clear.”
He further said, he realised that she must have taken some drugs like ketamine as he had seen people getting stiff after taking the hallucinogen. Incidentally, numerous scholarly articles associate hypertension and pulmonary oedema with ketamine administration.
Sean said that Sweeney was shifted to the hospital after this.
Two years after this incident, Maureen Sweeney, Denyse’s sister, raised suspicion of murder prompting Anjuna police to register FIR against unknown person under Section 302 of IPC on July 6, 2012.
Within a week, statements of at least three more people were recorded including owner of the room rented by Sweeney, caretaker of the room and a constable, who had put her in touch with the owner.
Till date, none of the witnesses, including Maureen, have suspected anybody of murder on record. Motive and modus operandi are also not known.
The burden of probing these unanswered questions has now been shifted to CBI sleuths.
