Only slapped her, says Sachin
Malkajgiri ACP to probe case; Ritu’s sister collects body
The Cyberabad police is taking the help of forensic experts to determine the cause of former air hostess Ritu Sareen’s death.
Ritu, 28, who was declared dead by doctors of a private hospital on Sunday night, had only minor external injuries on her forehead and face. The police and doctors were not able to ascertain the reason for her death.
The murder investigation has been handed over to the Malkajgiri ACP.
“The post-mortem examination was completed on Tuesday, and we have taken help of forensic doctors to ascertain the cause. We will know when the post-mortem result comes,” said Malkajgiri ACP M. Ravichandran Reddy.
Meanwhile Ritu’s husband, Mr Sachin, against whom the police has booked a case under Section 302 of the IPC for murder, claimed during interrogation that he had only slapped her and had found her unconscious when he had come back to the room after smoking a cigarette. However, a witness to the incident had earlier told the police that during the assault, Ritu had collapsed on the floor.
Ritu’s siblings, who accepted her body from the mortuary on Tuesday, said she had sounded happy earlier. “She had called me at around 8.30 pm and said that she was watching a cookery show to prepare dinner. She sounded happy; the trouble started after Sachin came home,” said Ritu’s sister Tulika Sareen. She added that Ritu would never commit suicide since she had a fivemonth-old baby boy.
Ritu’s relatives, meanwhile, alleged that Mr Sachin’s parents used to encourage him to torture her to get their property. “Even after they moving out to another place, his parents used to call him up and tell him to extract money from our parents,” said Ms Tulika.
Ritu and Mr Sachin had got married one-and-half year ago, and as per the allegations of her parents, he started torturing her two months after the wedding for additional dowry.
According to the police, Mr Sachin assaulted Ritu and she had fallen on the floor. By the time she was taken to the hospital, she had already died.