ROURKELA: Pressure is on Kutra police to crack the mystery behind the death of Sirin Naaz whose body was exhumed for autopsy by an expert medical team even as community members took out a march in Rourkela on Sunday seeking justice for the 27-year-old woman.
Sirin died suddenly on August 27 and her body was buried at Khatkurbahal the next day. Her brother Wasim Akram filed a written complaint with police on August 29 basing on which a case of murder was registered and Sirin’s body exhumed for autopsy on Saturday with the help of a scientific team amid heavy deployment of police personnel.
Ongoing investigation does not rule out possibility of foul play and all angles are being covered, police said.
Sirin, who belonged to Nala Road in Rourkela, had got married to Munawar Raza of Khatkurbahal within Kutra police limits on October 29, 2019. The couple has a three-year-old son. Munawar’s family is financially better than that of Sirin whose brother Wasim alleged she was often tortured by her husband to get a divorce.
Wasim said, on the afternoon of August 27, he received a call and was told Sirin’s blood pressure had dropped abruptly. Another call a few minutes later informed that she had passed away.
After reaching Sirin’s in-laws’ place, he tried to see the face of her sister which was draped in cloth but he was physically prevented by a group of women from doing so, he said.
The women apparently cited religious compulsions and sent Wasim away.
“Traumatised, my mind stopped working. Then two men from her in-laws’ side convinced me that Sirin died due to cardiac failure induced by a drop in blood pressure. They kept on convincing me that it was a natural death and if autopsy was conducted, it would hurt the soul of my sister,” Wasim added.
The deceased’s brother said he and his family smelled foul play after photographs clicked by his niece Zamiya during ritualistic washing of the body before burial reportedly showed strangulation-like dark and long mark on the neck and a small cut below the chin. He said the photographs have been given to police to aid in investigation.
Rajgangpur SDPO Abhishek Panigrahi said when the body was exhumed it was intact. The body was sent to the district headquarters hospital for autopsy by a team of professors from Sundargarh government medical college and hospital. “The exact cause of Sirin’s death will be known after the postmortem report is received,” he added.
Kutra IIC Manoranjan Bisi did not rule out possibility of a foul play. Meanwhile, a candle march was taken out on Sunday evening from Nala Road to Uditnagar in Rourkela by members of the Muslim community seeking justice for Sirin.