CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice to the police directing it to file a reply to a petition filed by dowry harassment victim Rithanya’s father R Annadurai seeking appointment of a new investigating officer (IO), not below the rank of superintendent of police, to conduct a fair and transparent probe into the death of his daughter and file an additional charge sheet within a stipulated time.
Justice M Nirmal Kumar, while issuing the notice recently, directed the police to file the reply by June 11, and adjourned the hearing.
The suicide of 27-year-old Rithanya in Tiruppur last year had caused widespread outrage as her parents alleged that dowry harassment and torture by her husband and in-laws led to her death.
In the petition, her father alleged that Avinashi DSP Sivakumar is not conducting the probe in a fair and transparent manner and he is forcing him to collect the jewels given as dowry without legally accounting for them.
He alleged that the investigation is not only casual and lackadaisical but also creeping along with an illegal motive to protect the culprits by withholding vital evidence, and the DSP is conducting the probe in an illegal, prejudiced and suspicious manner.
The investigation is not being carried out in a fair and effective manner due to the influence of political and communal persons, the petitioner further alleged.