7-yr-old girl 'drowns' a day before deposing in mom's murder case

The post-mortem report states she died due to drowning, and happened days before the police were to record the deceased girl's statement in her mother's murder case in May 2012.

The deceased girl and her six-year-old brother were witnesses in this case, which is being heard by the high court. The brother had told his maternal aunt that he had seen the prime accused talking to an employee of the institute in late July, two days after the Bombay High Court rapped the local police for not recording the children's statement.

Seen too much: The deceased girl and her six-year-old brother, who were staying at Bagram SOS, were key witnesses in this case, which is being heard before the high court. Pic/Krunal Gosavi

Yerawada Police have recorded a case of accidental death after Kalyani Gite (7) was declared dead at Sassoon Hospital on August 2. Authorities at SOS Balgram, had earlier said that Kalyani had been admitted to KEM hospital after she complained of pain in the hands and legs in the wee hours of Friday and that she vomited at school on Thursday.

Amar Jyoti Sarmah, the village director of SOS Balgram in Yerawada told MiD DAY, "Kalyani had taken her dinner and at 4.30 am had asked for water and later complained of pain in the hands and legs. At 6.15 am we shifted her to KEM Hospital where she was declared brought dead."

Police inspector Kishor Jadhav said that according to the post-mortem, the girl died due to drowning, and there was presence of water in her lungs. Jadhav said "The viscera has been preserved and we suspect that she drank water that could have entered in her lungs."

A forensic expert from government hospital said water is unlikely to enter the lungs even if the person drinking it is not conscious. He said, "If vomit enters the lungs it hardens. This condition is different from death by drowning. In drowning cases, air and water mix causing froth in lungs. The two conditions are totally disparate."

The children's aunt told MiD DAY, "I admitted that both kids to Balgram for safety considering that police are yet to arrest the people responsible for my sister's murder which was earlier shown as suicide as per police records"

Sharada said that her niece Kalyani and nephew Rahul were witnesses in her sister's murder on May 8, 2012. She added that her sister was being harassed by relatives Datta Wanave, his wife Kamlabai, and two others.

According to Kalyani's maternal aunt, Kalyani's brother Rahul had allegedly told her that he had seen the prime accused in the murder near the campus and claimed that he was trying to speak to one of the employees at Balgram.

According children's maternal aunt, the family had decided to keep the children at Balgram. According to the aunt, the children had told her that they were mistreated by authorities at SOS Balgram and were made to starve on several occasions and were even injected with some unknown medicine to stop them from wetting the bed. Ashok Amle, police inspector, from Nevase who is investigating the case told Mid Day that the case is under investigation.u00a0