Murder of Dalit Youth in Bhavnagar: Police open to narco-test on seven suspects

The arrest of Thaleisha has turned the case on its head. After Rathod was found dead on March 29, his father, Kalu, had stated in his police complaint that Natubha Darbar alias Natubha Zala, who belongs to the upper-caste Kshatriya community, was behind the murder as he had threatened his son against owning and riding a horse, saying it was a “privilege” of upper castes.

Acting on the complaint, police had detained 70-year-old Darbar. Ghoghubha Gohil and his brother Jitubha Gohil, both residents of neighbouring Piprali village were also detained. Police had detained four more persons later. As days of questioning did not yield any result, police had subjected the seven to a semi-polygraph-like analysis called suspect detection system (SDS) test last month to identify the prime suspect in the case.

Police said that results of all the seven suspects had come negative for SDS, meaning they were not lying to police. As the SDS screening remained inconclusive, the police had approached court seeking permission to run narco-analysis tests on the seven and the court gave its approval.

On Monday, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Palitana division in Bhavnagar, Piyush Pirojiya, said that they have not abandoned the plan to conduct the narco-analysis test or lie-detector tests on the seven suspects. “We have permission from the court and the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar has given July 2 as the date for the tests. Thaleisha’s arrest has clearly established the motive of murder and at present juncture, we do not see involvement of any other person in the crime. However, we are approaching the case from all angles and therefore, we shall take a call on narco-analysis tests as investigation progresses,” Pirojiya told The Indian Express.

Incidentally, Kalu has rejected the police investigation finding that Thaleisha killed his son over harassment. He is alleging that the police is diverting investigation from the fact that his son was murdered due to caste prejudice.

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