Maharashtra: Father keeps 'raped' daughter's body in salt pit for 44 days; second post-mortem opinion reserved

MUMBAI: The body of a tribal woman was preserved in a salt pit for 44 days in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district by her father, who alleged that she had been raped before her death, and demanded that a second post-mortem be conducted on her, an official said.

The second post-mortem was conducted in a Mumbai hospital and its findings were awaited.

The 21-year-old woman was found hanging at Vavi in Dhadgaon taluka of Nandurbar on August 1.

However, her father had claimed she was raped by four men, police officials said.

The body of the 21-year-old woman was brought to the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai from Nandurbar district, located in the northwest corner of Maharashtra, on Thursday, he said.

"A post-mortem was conducted in JJ Hospital here in the early hours of Friday. The opinion has been reserved and the viscera (large internal organs) has been preserved. The body, which was on the verge of decomposing, has been handed over to the kin and a report given to the Dhadgaon police station in Nandurbar," he said.

"Some organs have been sent for chemical analysis, which will help police get a final opinion in the case," the official added.

An earlier post-mortem conducted in a state-run hospital in Nandurbar had ruled out foul play, after which a case of suicide was registered.

However, the woman's father and other relatives, alleging irregularities in the probe, preserved the corpse instead of cremating it, he said.

"The family buried her body in a pit filled with salt in their village in Dhadgaon as they sought a second post-mortem in order to bring the truth out about her death. As the body was kept in a slat pit for weeks, authorities agreed to conduct another post-mortem at JJ Hospital," he said.

Salt is used to inhibit the process of decomposition.

Based on the statement of her father before the magistrate under section 164 of CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), the Nandurbar Police registered an FIR of 302 (murder) and 376 (punishment for rape) on Wednesday and arrested three accused persons.

The CrPC section 164 deals with the recording of confessions and statements before a magistrate.

Meanwhile, police said they have recovered mobile phone communication of the deceased woman with her relative, which is in a local tribal language.

As per this communication, the deceased told the relative the main accused and his friends had physically assaulted her and that she did not wish to live anymore, they said.

The woman committed suicide later, the official said.