The Bombay High Court on Monday put up some tough questions to the Maharashtra government and the prison authorities on the death of convict Manjula Shetye. The HC has asked the authorities to file a detailed affidavit spelling out the reason to condone the delay in taking Shetye to a hospital.
The questions came up during a hearing of a criminal Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by activist Pradeep Bhalekar. A Division Bench of Justice Rajendra Savant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav heard the petition filed to highlight the brutal assault on Shetye and the manner in which she was allegedly killed by the jail staff.
Advocate Nitin Satpute, representing Bhalekar, apprised the judges about the entire case and the developments in it since day one. He also informed the judges that Shetye had been a victim of “unnatural” offence as a lathi was inserted in her private parts. Accordingly, he sought directions to the jail authorities and the investigating team to invoke Section 377 (unnatural offence) of IPC against the six women accused.
