Calcutta High Court orders CID probe after man allegedly makes video call to show wife burning to death

The Calcutta High Court has ordered the West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) to investigate a case where a woman died after she caught fire while her husband allegedly video-called her cousin to show the burning wife instead of helping her [Nilanjan Mitra vs State of West Bengal]..Single-judge Justice Jay Sengupta was hearing the plea filed by one Nilanjan Mitra whose niece died due to burn injuries sustained after catching fire. Mitra alleged that the local police had failed to properly investigate the case or even invoke the proper provisions of law against the deceased woman's husband suspected of being involved in her death. .The Court took a serious view of the gruesome allegations. Pertinently, it also noted a statement indicating that the deceased woman's husband had made a video call to the woman's cousin instead of helping his wife. "It appears that during the call, the said cousin sister pleaded with the accused to save the victim (wife) instead of making the video call. It appears that the call went on for at least one minute. If a person catches fire and her husband is in a position to save her but chooses not to do so and does something else, it has to be explored whether this amounts to contributing to the death of the victim," the judge said in the order. .The judge said that at least this circumstance should have inspired the Investigating Officer (IO) of the police to find out whether the fire could have been caused by the husband."These aspects have been given a total go-by by the Investigating Officer. In fact, the statement of such a vital witness as the said cousin sister should have been recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)," the Court observed. Further, the Court noted that the IO had also failed to properly explain why the police did not seize certain relevant articles. All of this prompted the Court to transfer the probe to the CID. "The probe appears to have been totally misdirected. In view of these grave flaws in the probe, let the same be transferred to the CID, forthwith," the judge ordered. .Advocates Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, Supreem Naskar and Jayashree Patra appeared for the petitioner.Advocates Ashim Kumar Ganguly, Sambuddha Dutta and Sk Md Masud represented the State. .[Read Order]