Who killed Shruti Hill?
September 20/2008, Senior Resident Gandhi Medical College(GMC), Dr. Hemanth Verma filed a written complaint against Chandresh Marskole, a student of MBBS final year, at GMC in Bhopal’s Koh-e-Fiza police station In his complaint, Dr. Hemanth alleged Chandresh for murdering his girlfriend ‘Shruti hill’ a 23-year-old girl from Pachmarhi (about 200 km away from Bhopal).
After 2 days of filling this complaint joint team of Bhopal and Pachmarhi police recovered the body of a young woman from the “Denva Darshan” (A picturesque ravine near Pachmarhi), The same day Chandresh identified the body as Shruti Hill’s, soon he was charged for murder and destruction of evidences.
After 14 years and countless court hearings, the M.P. High Court passed a judgment that set him free from all the charges against him and instructed the state government to pay him 42 Lakh rupees within 90 days.
Case as per the complaint filed by Dr. Hemanth Verma:
As per the written complaint, on 19 Sept 2008, Chandresh asked Dr, Hemant to land him, his car (Toyota Qualis, license plate MP 04 HB 1550) to go to Hoshangabad (77 km away from Bhopal) for some urgent work, Marskole was a student at GMC hence he was already known to Dr. Hemant, he hesitated initially but allowed Chandresh to take the car after a brief persistence by Chandresh.
Dr. Hemanth called and instructed his driver (Ram-Prashad) to take Chandresh to Hoshangabad, thereafter Chandresh also had a word with Ram-Prashad and instructed him to bring the car to GMC Boy’s Hostel “B” Block.
At around 11:45 AM Chandresh met Ram-Prashad and introduced himself, he was carrying Black colored bedding with him from his hostel room which was put into the trunk of the car, They soon started their journey, and after a few minutes when the vehicle reached Budhni ghat Chandresh instructed Ram-Prashad to take the vehicle towards Pachmarhi, on their way to Pachmarhi, they stopped near Pipariya to have tea, then they continued till they reached Denva Darshan (A picturesque Ravine, that flows from the Satpura mountain range).
At around 4:45 PM Chndresh asked Ram-Prashad to stop the vehicle to answer nature’s call, Ram-Prashad walked a few hundred feet away from the vehicle to answer nature’s call, he heard a loud “thud” sound he immediately rushed towards the vehicle, upon reaching back he found the trunk of the car opened and the bedding was gone, According to the description by Ram-Prashad, at the time Chandresh was standing near the railing, Thereafter they continued their journey towards Pachmarhi.
Upon reaching the “Nandan Dhawa” crossing near Pachmarhi Chandresh got down of the vehicle to have a word with a boy, the conversation lasted a few minutes and ten Chandresh asked Ram-Prashad to take him back to Bhopal as the work for which he had come to pachmarhi couldn’t be done, Ram-Prashad and Chandresh returned to Bhopal by 10:00 PM, thereafter Ram-Prashad tried to contact Dr. Hemanth many times to tell about the events and express his suspicion about Chandresh, but Dr. Hemanth was not available to take the call, as he had also gone out of the city.
The following day on September 20/2008 Ram-Prashad met Dr. Hemanth and was informed about what had happened on September 19/2008, soon Dr. Hemanth called and filed a written complaint against Chandresh Marskole to Mr. Shailendra Shrivastava (then inspector general of police, Bhopal) in Koh-e-fiza Police station of Bhopal.
Police Investigation:
September 20/2008, soon after the complaint was filed police picked him up from his room in GMC Boy’s Hostel, and on September 22/2008 joint team by Bhopal and Pachmarhi Police found the dead body of a young girl from Denva Darshan (20 km away from Pachmarhi) in presence of Chandresh and Other Witnesses.
The Body was Identified by Chandres and her Father George Stevenson Hill as that of Shruti Hill (23), on the same day police had recorded a witness saying that Marskole had told them how he strangled the deceased and disposed of her body in the ravine near Pachmarhi.
September 24/2008 Post-Mortem was conducted and the cause of death was determined as Manual Strangulation (throttling) thereafter on September 25/2008 a formal FIR was registered against Chandresh in Koh-e-fiza police station and he was officially arrested under sections 302 and 201 of Indian Penal Code.
Court Proceedings:
July 31/2008 sessions court in Bhopal sentenced Chnadresh to Life Imprisonment under section 302(Murder) and 3 years of imprisonment under section 201 (destruction of evidence).
Chndresh filed his appeal to the M.P. High Court and the case hearings dragged on until 2017–18 once again case hearings started but soon after this COVID-19 hit and another 2 years passed as online hearings could not be performed due to the nature of the case.
In court proceedings, it was determined that all the evidence against Chandresh is circumstantial, and neither Dr. Hemanth nor Ram-Prashad had seen Chandresh Committing a crime, also questions raised about the way the police investigation was done and allegations of prior connection between Dr. Hemanth Verma and Mr. Shailendra Shrivastava (then inspector general of police, Bhopal).
On May 4/2022, after 14 years when he was picked from his room in GMC Boys hostel Chandresh was acquitted of all charges against him and instructed the State Government to pay 42 Lakh Rupees within 90 days.
Conclusion:
M.P. High Court set Chandresh free from all the charges, but the question remains the same if Chandresh did not kill Shruti Hill then who did? the question will haunt the heart of India unless a reinvestigation with the latest forensic technology is done.
Recommended Reads:
- Judgement of M.P. High court on Chandresh Marskole Vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh.
- Who killed Shruti Hill? MP HC releases ex-MBBS student after 14 years in jail.
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