Foetus found during dead journalist's autopsy

Koderma, Jharkhand: A 10 to 12 week-old foetus was found during autopsy of the Delhi-based journalist Nirupama Pathak, whose death at her home at Tilaya near Koderma is being suspected as a case of honour killing, Koderma civil surgeon B Mohan said on Wednesday.

However, the viscera and the uterus containing the foetus was not preserved by the team of three doctors who conducted the autopsy, he said.

It was also found that the three doctors -- Ashish Kumar, Shiv Kumar and K B Singh, had not mentioned the time of the strangulation which caused asphyxia leading to the death of the 22-year-old journalist, he said, adding an explanation has been sought from them.

Mohan said more than three persons were likely to have been involved in the strangulation, and not only her mother Subha or any other single person, a fact which should have been mentioned in the post mortem report.

Subha, suspected to have a hand in Nirupama's death, has been arrested as the post-mortem report conflicted with the version given by the family and is now in judicial custody.

Advertisement

Koderma Superintendent of Police G Kranthi Kumar said the police would soon question Pathak's fiance Priyabhanshu Ranjan, who is also a journalist in Delhi, and her friends.

"Three police teams have been sent to Mumbai, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to interrogate Pathak's friends including Ranjan," he told PTI adding her room in Delhi would be searched and her roommate interrogated.

Advertisement