Vyapam scam: 2012 medical student Namrata Damor's autopsy reveals she was choked to death

New Delhi: Bringing a fresh new twist to the Vyapam scam, the autopsy of second year medical student Namrata Damor who died mysteriously in 2012, has revealed that her death was a homicide. The findings of the report show that she was murdered by 'asphyxia' which would mean that she was choked to death.

"The case is of January 9, 2012. The postmortem was done by a 3-member panel. There were nail marks on her face and neck which indicated that her death was due to forcibly closing her mouth and neck as is in the case of homicide. Such deaths are never accidental or suicidal, they are only homicidal," Dr. BB Purohit said who was part of the panel which did the postmortem.

The Ujjain police had decided to conduct a fresh investigation into the mysterious death of Damor death, who was found dead near a railway track in 2012. An earlier investigation into Damor's death had termed it as a suicide, following which the case was shut by police.

"We have ordered a review of the death of Namrata Damor. Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Tarana, RK Sharma will reopen the case," Ujjain Superintendent of Police Manohar Singh Varma said. Police had registered a murder case following her death but later closed it describing it as an "accident".

The development came a day after an embattled Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the scandal that has claimed over 48 lives.

Notably, television journalist Akshay Singh was covering a story on Namrata Damor in her home town of Jhabua when he suddenly fell ill and died last week.

On Tuesday, under pressure over the mounting deaths in the case, the Madhya Pradesh government filed a plea in the High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the massive recruitment scandal.

The Jabalpur Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court will be hearing the state government's plea on Wednesday.

A large number of accused and witnesses in the massive admission and recruitment racket involving several middlemen, medical college owners, bureaucrats and politicians, have died so far under mysterious circumstances.

Bowing to public outcry, Chouhan had said that he will request the High Court to order a CBI probe into the Vyapam case, including the large number of deaths of people allegedly linked to the scam.