Hubballi (Karnataka), April 29 A court in Karnataka's Hubballi on Tuesday ordered disposal of the body of the accused involved in the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of a minor girl and shot dead by the police later.
The authorities were not able to track the family of Ritesh Kumar, 35. The efforts of the state police teams to find out his family members in Bihar had not yielded any results. Following this, the court passed its order.
The accused was shot dead on April 13, when he tried to escape from the police, while showing his place of residence.
The court had earlier issued directions to the authorities to strictly adhere to the Supreme Court guidelines regarding the body of the accused and also asked them to preserve body part samples.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka Unit and women’s rights activist Madhu Bhushan had filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the case.
The counsel for the petitioner had stated that the body of the deceased had to be preserved by the authorities so that evidence, as may be required during investigation, is available. If the body is cremated, the evidence would be lost and the rule of the law would suffer, the counsel underlined.
After conducting the autopsy, the CID and the Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMRCI), Hubballi, were awaiting the orders in this regard from the court. The KMRCI had written to the CID to take action regarding the disposal of the body, as it was decomposing.
The CID, in turn, had informed the court about the need for the disposal of the body, and it consented.
The CID sleuths have stated that they will conduct the final rites of the body of the accused by Wednesday (April 30).
The police investigation gathered that the accused had claimed that he is from Patna. The police department had sent three teams to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and other regions in northern India to track his family.
The shocking incident came to light in Hubballi on April 13 when Ritesh Kumar allegedly attempted to sexually assault a five-year-old girl and later strangled her to death for resisting.
The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Ashokanagar police station in Hubballi.
According to the police, the accused took the girl to a shed and attempted to assault her. When the girl screamed for help, locals rushed towards the spot.
Upon noticing the approaching people, the accused allegedly strangled the girl to death and managed to escape. The CCTV footage of the accused taking away the girl, holding her in his arms, had emerged, creating outrage among the public.
PSI Annapoorna, who shot the accused dead, had become a celebrity and received appreciation.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi had expressed his grief over the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Hubballi, saying it was deeply shocking and saddening.
"While arresting the accused, he tried to escape and even attacked the police. As a result, the police had to shoot him, and the accused also died. It is being said that the deceased accused had consumed drugs. The menace of drugs has increased significantly in recent days in Karnataka. Strict action must be taken to eradicate it," he added.
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