Abetment to suicide: Nagpur court nod to test if accused a transperson

NAGPUR: City police, caught between allegations by a father that sexual harassment led to his daughter’s suicide, and an accused who may be a transperson, received permission from a magistrate court earlier this month to conduct medical tests to confirm the sexuality of the accused.
The accused (who was living life as a female) and her friend (a female), both charged with abetment to commit suicide, have been in police custody since April 17. After the court’s approval, the accused was taken for tests at Government Medical College and Hospital and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The cops are yet to get the results.
On Monday, in perhaps the first instance of its kind, the accused was sent to the Central Jail, but ordered held alone at a special cell until her tests results prove whether she is a male, female or transperson.
Zonal DCP Anurag Jain said the father of the suicide victim claimed his daughter was sexually exploited by the accused, since the two girls appeared to be in a physical relationship from their photos and chat messages.
Deceased’s family was insisting on marriage
Zonal DCP Anurag Jain said, “In the same chat messages, the father also came across the accused claiming to be a transgender.” “Police wanted to be fair to both, the suicide victim’s father and also the accused, and hence decided to go for a medical examination with the court’s permission. This was to ascertain whether the suicide victim was sexually abused, whether the accused is a transgender, to help investigations and finalise charges in the case,” said Jain. Sunita (name changed) had consumed poison on March 6 at a garden in Dhantoli, allegedly after a spat with her college friend Parineeta (also name changed). Parineeta, who claimed to be a transgender in one chat with Sunita, had rushed Sunita to a hospital on the city outskirts, where she worked as a nurse.
Sunita died in hospital on March 11, after which a case of accidental death was registered at Sonegaon police station against two of her friends, including Parineeta and one Geeta (name changed), who was also allegedly in a physical relationship with Sunita. It’s learnt Sunita and Parineeta were studying ITI at the same college. Sources in police said the messages, images and videos on their phones suggested Sunita and Parineeta were in a physically intimate relationship like ‘lesbians’. Another girl, Geeta too used to urge Sunita to maintain a relationship with Parineeta, due to which the victim’s family named her in the case.
Sensing something unusual about Sunita’s friendship with Parineeta, her family had started pressuring her for marriage. On March 6, Sunita’s family had invited a prospective groom to their residence to meet her. Parineeta had instead compelled Sunita to accompany her to college, where they had a verbal spat. It’s learnt Parineeta was miffed with Sunita’s eagerness to settle with a man. The fight between them was seen by many others, who later told the police and also the victim’s family. Shortly after this quarrel, Sunita had consumed poison. The complicated issue had seen another twist when a man turned up at the hospital, claiming to have married Sunita in court on November 26, 2019. Sonegaon police, after prolonged investigations, had registered abetment to commit suicide charges against Parineeta and Geeta