Sindh HC orders judicial probe into death of Hindu dental student: report

A top Pakistani court on Wednesday ordered a judicial probe into the mysterious death of a Hindu dental student in Sindh province after her family alleged that she may have been murdered, according to a media report.

Namrita Chandni, a final-year student of Bibi Asifa Dental College in Sindh province, was found dead on a cot by her friends on September 16 with a rope tied to her neck.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a judicial inquiry into the death case of Chandni, Geo News reported.

Quoting sources, it said the SHC wrote a letter to a sessions judge in Larkana to conduct a judicial probe into her death.

The session judge had sought the SHC's permission for a judicial inquiry into the matter over the provincial government's request.

The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University administration has said that she had allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in her room in the university's hostel.

Chandni's brother Dr Vishal, a medical consultant in Dow Medical College in Karachi, has said that the marks around her neck suggested that she had not committed suicide.

The marks on her neck looked like those made by cable wires, while the wounds on her arms suggested that someone was holding her down, he was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media.

However, Chandni's father and brother have not yet registered a case and that consultations are being done with senior officials over the registration of a first information report (FIR), the report said.

The investigating officer has said that he had completed interviews of senior professors, both the roommates and 40 others, while her classmates Mehran Abroo and Shan Ali were under arrest.

On Sunday, police claimed that Abro, one of the accused arrested in connection with Chandni's death, had conceded that the two were romantically involved.

According to the police officials, Abro said Chandni had discussed the possibility of marriage with him. He also revealed that he rejected a marriage proposal from her, Geo News reported on Monday.

According to the principal of Larkana's Chandka Medical College, Professor Dr K Das Dholia, the initial post-mortem report ascertained the cause of Chandni's death to be suicide.

The initial postmortem report also confirmed there were no indication or marks of torture on her body, Dholia said, noting that samples from Chandni's body were sent to laboratories in Karachi and Larkana.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah last week ordered authorities to furnish details of the incident and provide all help to Chandni's parents.