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Postmortem report excludes drowning
Almost four years later, the investigators have still not been able to state the exact circumstances of the deaths of Anshi Ittoo, a 17-year old schoolgirl and Tagoresingh Sandooram, a 38-year old married man. The statement of police medical officer, Satish Boolell, in Court last week and the visit of the crater lake where their bodies were discovered by magistrate Razia Janoo-Jaunbaccus in charge of the judicial inquiry may help shed some light on the mysterious disappearance and death of the Bassin-Blanc lovers in November 2002.
What appears more and more obvious is that the suicide theory initially favoured by the police when the bodies were found is most unlikely. The postmortem report further points out that there has been a foul play in this case. Satish Boolell’s report states that both bodies were covered with bruises and signs of violence, which have caused the lovers’ deaths. He discards death by drowning as thought when the enquiry was launched. For him, the cause of death is brain haemorrhage. He also observe that, in view of the number of bruises, Tagoresingh Sandooram’s death had a more violent origin.
Even though the medical officer refused to conclude whether the lovers’ death was due to a foul play – he preferred to leave this to the investigators – all points to this conclusion so far. Or, at least, a no-suicide theory.
No scratch marks</B>
According to Satish Boolell, the lovers did not throw themselves into the lake from the top of the crater as there would have been scratch marks and other types of wounds on their bodies. The marks on their bodies couldn’t be due to a fall. His report also reveals that “no muddy particles or vegetations” were found in the air passage of the lovers. As a result, he believes they could not have drowned themselves. The medical officer should have found water or residue in their stomachs or in their lungs when he made the post mortem examination; but it was not the case.
The reconstruction of the crime was aimed at allowing the magistrate to have a precise idea of the place where the bodies were found. The exercise showed that the route down the crater to the lake is far from easy; hence, it appears unlikely that the lovers went there willingly. Moreover, the people present at the reconstruction on site last Thursday, especially Siv Pottaya, the Sandooram family’s lawyer, realised that the dense vegetation on the slopes of the crater would have stopped their bodies from reaching the bank of the lake below.
Killed by mistake</B>
When the investigation was on four years ago, there were several different theories to explain the death of the lovers. Among them, a possibility that Anshi Ittoo and Tagoresingh Sandooram were killed “by mistake”. Sandooram had bought his cousin’s car a few days before his death. And his cousin is no one else than Kishan Hazareesing who witnessed the assault of Dr Malhotra , Anerood Jugnauth’s son-in law, in his office. Investigators think the criminals could have been targeting Hazareesing.
The latest theory of the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) is that the lovers were killed by Anshi’s brother, Bipin. The latter was arrested a few weeks ago and has now been granted bail. Although he has kept denying the facts, the MCIT do not look convinced by his alibi. Moreover, Antoine Chetty - who made many ‘revelations’ after being arrested for drug trafficking – he is now serving a prison term - said he had been contacted at the time by Bipin Ittoo to ‘get rid’ of Sandooram. Though Bipin Ittoo is still a suspect, his arrest leads to believe that the police are looking for criminals to solve that sordid case.
The statement of MCIT head, Prem Raddhoa, in court in the coming days is much expected. He will have to state what led him to believe that Bipin Ittoo was related to the crime… This could allow the judicial enquiry to make a step forward.
Even though all these developments do not point to any definite conclusion so far, no doubt they will help the magistrate have a clearer idea of what happened there four years ago.
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