Byculla inmate's death was accidental says Mumbai police, Bombay HC lambasts the police

The Bombay High Court on Monday lambasted the Mumbai police for attempting to deem Byculla inmate, Manjula Shetye's death an 'accident'. The police submitted that Manjula fell unconscious after falling in the prison washroom.

The court said that the prison authorities as well as the staff of J J Hospital, where Manjula died, are leaving no stone unturned to make it look like an accident. While the police submitted that Shetye died after sustaining injuries in a fall that rendered her unconscious, the court asked where the injuries came from. 'How were injuries detected in the postmortem then? Did the



doctors beat her?' the court asked.

The bench also asked if the police were attempting to shield somebody and if the same treatment was being meted out to every case. The police went on to call Manjula's death an accident despite footage retrieved from nine CCTV cameras inside the jail showed the brutality meted out to Manjula. The Kalina FSL retrieved the footage that showed jail staff pulling Manjula Shetye out of her barrack.

The autopsy report indicated severe injuries on Manjula's body including her private parts. Six jail staff have been charged with murder for Manjula's death.