Acting on the orders of the Supreme Court, the CBI has taken over the investigation into the mysterious death of a 25-year-old Manipuri woman at her residence in Delhi. The woman's body was discovered on May 29, 2013, in her rented accommodation in Chirag Delhi, with severe facial disfigurement, a broken nose, and blood spattered on the floor along with a blood-soaked bedsheet.
Initially, the Delhi Police investigated the case as a suicide but later included sections related to murder. An autopsy conducted by a senior resident of AIIMS noted post-mortem wounds on the body but did not determine the cause of death. A second autopsy by a panel from Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital also failed to ascertain the cause of death.
The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea from the victim's cousins for a CBI probe, as the involvement of two suspects (landlords) could not be proven through a lie-detector test. Additionally, the semen found on the victim's undergarment did not match the suspects, her alleged boyfriend remained absconding, and the cause of death remained undetermined.
The victim's cousins then approached the Supreme Court, which on March 22, 2024, directed the CBI to investigate the case. The Supreme Court bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia observed that there appeared to be no reason for the young woman to commit suicide and that the crime scene suggested a homicidal death. The bench emphasized the need to apprehend the culprits, setting aside the Delhi High Court order and mandating a thorough CBI investigation.
