A judicial commission in Pakistan is giving a colour of suicide to a female Hindu dental student who was found dead by her friends in her hostel room in September but the fact remains that all the evidence and sequence of events that led to her death under mysterious circumstances need to be probed intensively.
It is pertinent to mention that the victim, Nimrita Chand, who belonged to Ghotki town in Sindh province, was found lying on a charpoy with a piece of cloth tied to her neck while her room was locked from inside. The victim was was a BDS final year student at Assefa Medical and Dental College in Larkana.
Just to cover-up the persecution of minority Hindus in Pakistan and to save the image of the country in the international arena, the judicial panel has concluded that the girl has "committed suicide" while ruling out murder.
The mysterious manner of her death had prompted her family to suspect foul play. The case became more controversial when the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) reported mishandling of critical evidence, The News International reported.
The judicial panel headed by the District and Sessions Judge Larkana conducted hearings of witnesses, including students, teachers and staff members at the Assefa Medical and Dental College.
It also reviewed the police inquiries, postmortem and DNA reports, forensic data of the victim's mobile phone and laptop and those of the suspects and other related evidence.
The commission has concluded its findings and has submitted its 17-page report to the Sindh Home Department, as per sources.
The judicial panel concluded that "Nimrita was under severe stress following the refusal of her marriage proposal by her friend. Owing to severe stress and dejection and frustration, Nimrita committed suicide." The commission, however, ruled out foul play in the case, while reviewing the investigations and evidence.
The police and authorities have tried to downplay the incident by saying that she committed suicide. However, her family has asserted that she was murdered.
According to the autopsy report, the victim's death was determined to be caused by suffocation as asphyxial signs caused by a ligature on the neck that was detected during the autopsy, A DNA test also confirmed the presence of male DNA profile indicated from semen residue on the deceased's clothes whereas a vaginal swab tested positive for a forced sexual act.
Thereby, these reports proved the claim of the victim's brother, Vishal, a medical consultant, who had said that the preliminary checkup showed that she was murdered.
Police had detained dozens of suspects, including two of the victim's classmates, who were taken into custody after tracing the call data from the deceased's mobile phone. Police had also claimed that one of the classmates, Mehran Abro, was in love with the victim and wanted to marry, according to Pakist media reports.
Chand's mysterious death is a telling example of what minorities go through in Pakistan. Every year, around 1,000 young Sindhi Hindu girls between the age of 12 and 28 are abducted, forcibly married and converted to Islam, US-based Sindhi Foundation has said.
( With inputs from ANI )