Namrata Damor, an accused in the Vyapam scam, was found dead on railway tracks in 2012
The first murder case has been registered in the Vyapam scam by the CBI, which this week started investigating the job scandal and the unusual number of deaths linked to it. The case has been registered in the death of 19-year-old medical student Namrata Damor; the police had claimed that she had committed suicide even though an autopsy report said she had been strangled.
Namrata's death was brought back into focus after a TV journalist, Akshay Singh, died minutes after interviewing her father on July 4.
On Thursday, the CBI, which was asked to investigate the scam by the Supreme Court last week, called for the medical reports of Namrata, Akshay Singh and two others.
Namrata was found dead on railway tracks in Ujjain in January, 2012. When the police filed a closure report in 2014, they called it a suicide, contradicting the autopsy report that said that Namrata died because of "violent asphyxia as a result of smothering" and that the findings suggested "homicidal" death.
A doctor who was a part of the autopsy team told NDTV recently that he was convinced Namrata was murdered. "There is not even one percent chance of a natural death," said Dr BB Purohit.
"There were bruises on the nose and mouth of the woman which indicated she was strangled. Also bruises on her body suggested she was dragged on the tracks after her death," Dr Purohit told NDTV.
The police, however, said there was nothing to suggest that Namrata was murdered.
A second year medical student, Namrata allegedly secured admission illegally. In the multi-crore scandal involving politicians and bureaucrats, lakhs of candidates allegedly paid bribes in return for jobs on the state payroll or for places in educational institutes.
There have been 36 deaths linked to the scam since 2012; the causes range from road accidents to suicides, alcohol poisoning and heart attacks.