Kerala landslides: State govt issues guidelines for burial of remains
Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): As more and more bodies and body parts are recovered from the landslide-hit areas of this north Kerala district with many remaining unidentified or unclaimed, the state government has issued guidelines, including collection of DNA and dental samples, for burial of the remains.
According to the guidelines issued by the Disaster Management Department, an identification number shall be assigned to each body or body part and the same shall be clearly mentioned in all the samples, photographs or videos of the remains and the record of material objects associated with the body.
It further said that police shall make all possible efforts to identify the bodies or body parts and if identification was not possible, they shall release the body to the district administration for further action after 72 hours from the time of inquest.
"The district administration shall inform Meppadi panchayat and the panchayat or municipality in which the burial site is located. In cases where the doctor concerned has advised, in writing, immediate burial due to decomposition or otherwise, the body shall be released to the district administration immediately without any waiting period.
"The disposal of bodies shall only be in the form of burial," the guidelines issued on August 2 said.
The district administration has been directed to ensure burial of the body with clearcut markings of the identification number at the spot of burial.
It was also directed that the burial shall take place in the presence of officials of the panchayat or municipality where it is carried out.
"The district administration shall maintain necessary records of the burial location details for reference," the guidelines said.
Similar are the guidelines for bodies which are identified but not claimed and where identification is contested or doubtful.
The guidelines also directed that the actual cost of burial shall be certified by an appropriate authority authorised by the District Disaster Management Authority, Wayanad for the purpose and "the actual expenditure for each case shall be met from the State Disaster Response Fund".
According to the district administration, 210 bodies and 139 body parts have been recovered from the landslide-hit areas and around 218 people are missing.
However, Kerala ADGP M R Ajith Kumar had on Friday said that approximately 300 people are still missing.
The district administration, on Friday, had also said that 147 of the recovered bodies have been identified by relatives.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru court extends judicial custody of Darshan & other accused till September 12
Bengaluru (PTI): A court here on Monday extended till September 12 the judicial custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa along with his friend Pavithra Gowda and others, who are accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.
All the 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavithra, were produced before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court through video conferencing from various prisons across the state, where they are lodged, as their judicial custody ended today.
Police last week submitted to the court a 3,991-page preliminary charge sheet in the case.
Darshan is currently lodged in Ballari prison. He was shifted there from the Parappana Agrahara Central jail here by obtaining court permission, after a photograph of him hanging out with three others, including a rowdy-sheeter, on the lawns of the jail had gone viral, sparking an uproar.
In the picture, the actor is seen in a relaxed mood, sitting on a chair and holding a cigarette and a coffee mug. Also, a purported video of Darshan speaking to a person over a video call from the prison too had surfaced on social media.
The court had also permitted shifting of other co-accused in the murder case to various prisons in the state.
Other accused -- Pawan, Raghavendra and Nandish -- are now lodged in Mysuru Jail, Jagadish and Lakshmana in Shivamogga Jail, Dhanraj in Dharwad Jail, Vinay in Vijayapura Jail, Nagaraj in Kalaburagi/Gulbarga Jail, and Pradosh in Belagavi Jail.
Three accused -' Pavithra Gowda, Anukumar, and Deepak -- continue to remain at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here. Four accused -- Ravi, Karthik, Nikhil and Keshavamurthy -- were earlier shifted to Tumakuru prison and they continue to remain lodged there.
Nine prison officials, including the Chief Superintendent of the Parappana Agrahara jail, were suspended over their "lapses" after a preliminary probe into "special treatment" to Darshan.
Also, three FIRs were registered, including against Darshan, under sections of the Prisons Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to police sources, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Pavithra, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June nine.
Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.
According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.
Police sources said Pavithra, who is accused number one, was the "major cause" for Renukaswamy’s murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime.
_vb_67.jpeg)
