The police have also registered a separate case of unnatural sex against the 17-year-old inmate named by Khan in his dying declaration. The police have also registered a separate case of unnatural sex against the 17-year-old inmate named by Khan in his dying declaration.

Three months since a Bombay High Court order to the effect, more than 80 inmates have been shifted back to Dongri from the David Sassoon Children’s Home (DSCH) where a 17-year-old inmate was allegedly beaten to death in May this year. The inmates had been brought to the David Sassoon home when the Dongri Children’s Home was undergoing restoration work.

DSCH officials said they had also installed several CCTV cameras as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, 17 persons, 16 of them minors, have been chargesheeted in connection with Amir Khan’s death. A dying declaration, a broken cricket bat that was the alleged murder weapon, and “confessions” of the 16 juveniles form the bulk of evidence against the 17. Amir died on May 28 due to multiple injuries, after being allegedly assaulted by the 17 around a week before the death.

Khan, who was released from the state-run David Sassoon home on bail on May 20, was admitted to the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar with multiple health complications the same day. He was shifted to Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central within hours but could not be saved. In his dying declaration to the police, he had accused one Santosh Pakhare (32) and a 17-year-old boy, both inmates of the children’s home, of severely assaulting him.

On August 29 this year, the Shivaji Park police filed two chargesheets in the matter. One was submitted to the metropolitan magistrate’s court in Bhoiwada against Pakhare, while the other was filed in a juvenile court in Dongri against the 16 juvenile inmates who allegedly confessed to having assaulted Khan.

“Pakhare and the 16 juveniles have been charged with murder, rioting and voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons under the Indian Penal Code,” said senior police inspector Ashok Jagdale.

During investigation, the police recovered from the home a cricket bat broken from its handle, which is now part of evidence. While the investigating team had earlier initiated inquiries into the allegations against Pakhare in Khan’s dying declaration, 16 of Khan’s fellow inmates who shared the dormitory with him allegedly confessed to assaulting Khan on the night of May 18, said an officer.

According to the sequence of events reconstructed by the police in its chargesheet, Khan, along with four other inmates, was trying to escape the facility on May 18. Only two of them, however, succeeded in fleeing. Shortly thereafter, Khan was pounced upon by his fellow inmates who beat him up with bare hands and also with a cricket bat and wooden sticks. The police said the statements of the two other inmates who tried to escape had been recorded too.

Reports of Khan’s medical examination at the Nair Hospital indicated 16 injuries to the posterior part of his body and seven to the anterior, with the most severe marks over the left shoulder blade and behind his neck but none to his head.

“Medical and forensic reports confirm that Khan died due to multiple injuries. The internal injuries were severe, his buttocks were badly bruised and his kidneys seriously damaged,” said an officer.

The police have also registered a separate case of unnatural sex against the 17-year-old inmate named by Khan in his dying declaration.

“The 17-year-old (name withheld) had asked me to tell the remand home authorities that another juvenile in the room regularly assaulted people. When I refused to tell any such lie, I was thrashed by the 17-year-old and ‘mama’ (Pakhare’s nickname) with bats and wooden sticks for four hours between 3 and 7 am on May 18,” Khan’s statement to the police read. Khan further said he could not inform the remand home authorities about the incident as he was drugged.

“During the course of our investigation, two other juveniles came forward and confided about being sexually assaulted by the 17-year-old inmate. We registered a case of sodomy on June 11 this year. The victims in this matter said they were sexually assaulted in March and April, respectively, earlier this year,” said a police officer.

rohit.alok@expressindia.com

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