SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT – HOMICIDE OR SUICIDE

Investigations

DIVULGING THE TRUTH

By Dr. Vidyottma Jha, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Posted: 19 Aug, 9:40am

Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence, Bandra, Mumbai on 14thJune, 2020, under mysterious circumstances. Over the years we’ve heard about suicides of the movie stars and accepted it as the last truth about that person. The preliminary police investigation suggested it was a suicide by hanging but several doubts have surfaced since then.The pictures of his dead body were circulated in media tell a totally different tale.Several details were being tweeted with images and videos. It was unbelievable as the police declared this within ten minutes of reaching the crime scene leading to the suspicion and disbelief. The case came under close public scrutiny and opened a can of worms. This is for the first time ever that the death of an actor is being questioned like never before as people are not ready to believe and accept that a person like Mr. Sushant Singh Rajput can commit suicide.

Initially the theory of depression was circulated but it didn’t fit in here as it’s difficult to believe that an actor of his caliber would quit life so easily. Though the media and news agency expressed their sorrow over the untimely demise of the iconic star the ones who really loved him truly were shocked, unsettled and puzzled. It’s definitely not the usual tale of suicide rather it seems there’s much more than what meets the eyes. For some it might be a ‘normal case’ of a celebrity committing suicide but there are people who are not ready to accept the narrative.In fact if we closely analyse we find various conflicting angles more like a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces just does not fit.

The theory of suicide does not find much ground because suicide implies intentionally causing one’s own death. Moreover, there are various factors that come into play to influence someone who decides to commit suicide.    People are most driven to suicide when they view their current situation as being completely hopeless and feel as if they have no way to change things for the better. Common causes of suicide include: depression, drug abuse, financial problems, as well as difficulties with relationships. In this case none of the causal factors for depression and suicide are present rather all this seems to be a blatant lie.

He was so passionate about life. He was completely immersed in art; he had a vision. His dreams that he articulated in his diary were so fascinating and beautiful. He was a man who lived every moment and planned for the future. His death seems mysterious and unnatural.The Nation has awakened and a cry for justice has struck a chord for every middle class family of India, with every parent who tells their children to dream big, with every youth who aspires to reach to the stars. Even in his death he seems alive and asking for justice. People want to know what happened to Sushant and the Mumbai Police’s crude attempt to cover up has shaken our collective conscience which has made all of us feel that we are all part of this movement that is led by the masses, the fans from all over the globe. It is not just for demanding CBI enquiry but also for a closure, punishment of the people, who are the perpetrators of what transpired on the night of the 13th of June and the morning of 14th June because it was not a regular suicide there were marks on his neck which looked like he has been tasered, there was leeched kind of asphyxiation. He was incapacitated. His legs were broken. There are a vast number of questions that people want to know that what happened to Sushant in last few hours.

There are only two pointers that support suicide theory:anti depressant drugs found in his room and Sushant’s non-existence on social media for quite some time. Whereas the pointers supporting the murder theory are location, length of ligature mark, mark on the neck not matching with the cloth used, various marks on the body, CCTV outage, missing room duplicate key, his manager Disha Salian’s unnatural death just few days before death of Sushant, changing sim cards, no financial crisis, servant changing statement, among other things. The death of Disha was also given colour of suicide by Mumbai police in spite of several contrary circumstances and the behaviour of parents of Disha also shows that they were threatened.

SUICIDE THEORY AND THE INCONSISTENCIES

  1. The police reported he hung himself by using the bed without the help of stool or chair. This seems next to impossible, as the height between the beds which is around 1.5 to 2ft height which means the ceiling was not high enough for a man of 6 ft, weighing around 75 kilos, to hang to death. This is, of course, assuming that the height of the room is 9 feet. Most significantly, the piece of green cloth found lying with the corpse was not likely to have served the purpose of making the lethal noose. 
  2. The Forensic experts are of the opinion that Sushant was killed the previous night and the ligature mark around his neck, blood clot and the ‘O’ shape around his neck seemed more like the effect of strangulation than that of hanging. Besides, the paleness of the face showed oedema that sets in about 20 hours after death. All these chain of events indicate that Sushant was already dead around the time that Mumbai Police claims he had made a phone call to his sister. While the detective holds that the unanswered calls that Mumbai Police talks of were made by the killers to create an alibi.
  3. The suspicion becomes higher because if Sushant had hanged himself, there would not be any sign of injury on his right arm nor would there be another scar below the ligature mark. These were signs of the last fight or the struggle he might have put up before his murderers. Also, if the body is hung it leaves marks on the skin over the lower jaw whereas the ligature mark around Sushant’s neck ran concentrically to the folds of his neck skin, an inch or so below the lower jaw. Moreover, hanging causes more deformity of the face, as the noose maintains its grip around the neck for a long time after the person is dead, but if strangulated, the killers would loosen the grip once they are sure their victim is dead. No such severe deformity was noticed on the face or other parts of Sushant’s body. The normal signs of suicide too were missing, his face was neither blue, nor were his eyes or tongue protruding. Rather if one looks at the images closely can notice that there were bruises near his forehead, arms, swelling above his left eyebrow. One eye was partially open and the skin around it looked dark. How did these bruises appear if it was just a ‘normal case’ of suicide?
  4. His body was reportedly taken by his friend, Sandip to Cooper Hospital, which is run by BMC, which incidentally had come under fire recently after an audio recording of the doctors demanding bribe surfaced. Cooper Hospital, was the same hospital where actresses Jiah Khan, Divya Bharati and Parveen Babi were also taken to after their death. It was later reported that Mahesh Bhatt knew a doctor in Cooper Hospital. 
  5. His Autopsy report showed asphyxia due to hanging, which itself does not mean suicide, it could mean he was strangled by someone, and then the whole thing could have been staged as a suicide.  
  6. While the viscera report showed there were no chemicals found in his body. The glass from which he had drunk pomegranate juice after going to his bedroom was missing in his room.
  7. Sushant or anybody else who is suicide-bound would he be in a frame of mind to play game on a play station before committing suicide or it was done by somebody else at around 10 AM.
  8. The culprits have also tampered with the evidence by ripping off the pages from Sushant’s diary.
  9. No suicide note was recovered from the spot. 
  10. Why didn’t the Mumbai police record photographic evidence of Sushant hanging, if that’s how he was found?
  11. With the family claiming no inquest video by Mumbai police can ‘Homicide’ be ruled out?
  12.  In the absence of video graphic evidence of hanging can ‘foul play’ be ruled out?
  13.  The Autopsy is conducted in daytime but it was done at night and it does not mention the timings.
  14.  According to the Standard procedure the ‘place’ of crime should be sealed immediately even if it’s a suicide. Sushant’s house was not yet sealed for many days.

WHY THE MURDER-ANGLE IS MISSING IN FIR?

It is well settled law that the recording of the First Information is the starting point of any investigation by the police, which initiates collection of evidence during investigation and formation of the final opinion which results in filing of a report under Section 173 CrPC. The FIR in a criminal case is a vital and valuable piece of evidence and it decides the scope of investigation. The object of insisting upon prompt lodging of the FIR in respect of the commission of an offence is to obtain early information regarding the circumstances in which the crime was committed.The first and prompt FIR is considered a very valuable piece of evidence and in case of unreasoned and unexplained delay in registering FIR most often results in acquittal. A promptly lodged FIR reflects the firsthand account of what happened exactly. As per the Supreme Court guidelines the registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in order to conduct a ‘preliminary inquiry’. The Mumbai police did not file the FIR rather very cleverly declared death of Sushant as suicide. As a result of which the entire scope of investigation is confined on the basis of suicide which also set in motion a debate through media on various aspects of nepotism in Bollywood, which was totally unwarranted in this case and was planted with ulterior motive.

The FIR, which was lodged in Patna on 25th July 2020 by father of Sushant. From bare perusal of this FIR it seems that it is filed with proper legal advise but still it seems vague and the basic course of allegations are missing. The legal advice given to the family of victim is questionable as the big question is why only the money angle is focused and not the murder angle is put forth in this FIR. There is so much emphasis in the second FIR about suicide, which shows that the legal advisors convinced family of Sushant that he has committed suicide and after this FIR even CBI will only look into the case from angle of suicide. By so much emphasis on money aspect in the second FIR, it looks an attempt to deviate media and investigating agency from main issue of murder. It compels us to remember whenever economy of India and Pakistan dive, they start attacking each other on borders so as to deviate minds of their people from the main issue. We must remember at this stage that whatever money Sushant gave to anybody during his life time with his self earned income and he was fully entitled to spend his money in the manner he wanted and there is no complaint of any kind, lodged by him during his lifetime against anyone for cheating or misappropriation of his money or property and it is not the case in FIR or before Enforcement Directorate that any money was diverted from his account to the account of anyone after his death and it also came in media that at the time of his death there was more than 15 crore in his accounts. So legally speaking the investigation by ED or CBI  into money aspect will not result in conviction of any one even for a single day and this entire exercise will be futile and in fact it is only and only an attempt to deviate the attention of people from the main issue of murder. 

CONCLUSION

The social media and later the mainstream media has been relentlessly working and exposing the perpetrators and the botched up investigation by the Mumbai Police. Media has performed its role in a great way from collecting the evidence to unravel the mysteries. Thanks to media trial that people started raising fingers against police for deciding in 10 minutes that the death of Sushant was suicide to save some very influential persons by keeping aside all circumstances and manipulating post mortem reports. We hope that only public and media pressure can lead to justice in this matter. The scenario has changed. The narrative of suicide and the larger agenda of proving him mentally sick has been harmed and debunked. The case should now be seen in the light of the evidence which is indicating strongly towards murder. For justice to be done and the perpetrators to be punished the FIR ought to be relooked, reviewed, and revised and God saves the family of Sushant from such legal advisors who lead to registering such a vague FIR.