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praveen   10 February 2015

How long can a murder case be filed after date of death

My father is an ill-tempered man with an extremely rude attitude. He has an unusually arrogant way of living. He beat us inhumanely (my mother and three brothers of us) at his whim. He still isn't shy of beating us brothers (all married and above 35 years of age).

 

My mother suffered the worst due to his attitude and after 35-36 years of marriage, finally succumbed to injuries received from beatings by him. On the face of it, she died in an operation theater, where she was being operate by a practicing doctor. But this is public knowledge that she actually died of injuries. She was beaten badly even a day before the death. A number of people in our colony who used to come to rescue her from my father will testify this in the court of law.

 

My two brothers and their wives who lived with them never tried to save her from my father (apparently due to their greed of being in good books of my father who had all the money and power). I have lived separately from my family for over two decades. My mother died (was killed) 8 years ago. Hence, I was not around to rescue her. She declined my request to move with me. At the time of death I was not capable to trying to bring my father to justice. But today I am.

 

My question is - can I bring my father to justice? Do I have a case? My mother did die of injuries, even as at the time of death she was being operated for some illness. Weaknesses in the case are:

 

(1) I don't have a death certificate / post mortem report.

 

(2) My father can easily produce the papers from the doctor that she was being operated for some illness. Doctor will easily give him a death certificate of whatever my father wants as my father never accused doctor of negligence in the operation leading to her death.

 

(3) It's been over 8 years since the death. Is it too long to file a murder/attempt to murder case?

 

 

Strong points are:


(1) That my father regularly and inhumanely beat my mother is public knowledge. Easy to get witnesses for this.

 

(2) Even before a day before the death my mother was beaten badly by my father.

 

(3) Upon hearing the news of my mother's death instead of mourning and cussing the doctor, my father was seen walking hand-in-shoulder with the doctor.

 

(4) My father didn't take a death certificate or pressed for post-mortem.

 

(5) Despite being financially and in every other way capable, he scheduled an operation with a small time local doctor instead of a reputed hospital in a big city.

 

(6) I have audio recording where people of my family have accused each other for my mother's death. These recordings were made when people were fighting each other and blamed each other for my mother's death. In these recordings, my middle brother blames my father, the wives of the middle brother and the youngest brother both blame my father. My father blames it on my middle brother.

 

Case is clear that my mother's death was not natural (due to illness) as it was made out to be. Everyone knows she was killed by my father. But the question is --

 

Am I too late in taking the cause up and have too little to have a valid case? I don't want to drag my father to court unless the case even has a 50-50 chance to reach a conclusion.

 

Please do advise! Thanks a lot for your suggestions.



Learning

 8 Replies

Karthikeyan (Manager)     10 February 2015

Ad per my knolodge, you can file a case at any time. However please consult with good criminal lawyer.

Advocate Ravinder (Advocate/Attorney)     10 February 2015

Normally, on the death of your mother, if it is suspicious death, he hospital doctors will inform the Police immediately to the Police.  But it is not know whether your father had managed the hospital people or not.  It is also not known whether your mother's death is really caused due to beating by your father. 

 

You can file criminal case even now.  Meet DCP or commissioner of Police after giving complaint in the local police and explain in detail the entire episode.  Or you can call me 7893011777 or contact ravinder2345@gmail.com for further doubts. 

Dr J C Vashista (Advocate)     11 February 2015

Collect all relevant documents, contact and engage a local lawyer and file a criminal case.

praveen   11 February 2015

Originally posted by : Karthikeyan
Ad per my knolodge, you can file a case at any time. However please consult with good criminal lawyer.

Thanks Mr Karthikeyan.

 

praveen   11 February 2015

Originally posted by : Dr J C Vashista, majjagdish@ya

Collect all relevant documents, contact and engage a local lawyer and file a criminal case.

 

Thank Mr Vashista. What documents should I collect?

 

Since I am living hundreds of miles away away from my family, I am not in a good position to collect any documents as such. But I will try if I can gather what I need. Please guide.

Also, the case can be filed only in the jurisdiction where the death occurred or can I also file it in the place of my residence?

praveen   11 February 2015

Originally posted by : Ravinder.P

Normally, on the death of your mother, if it is suspicious death, he hospital doctors will inform the Police immediately to the Police.  But it is not know whether your father had managed the hospital people or not.  It is also not known whether your mother's death is really caused due to beating by your father. 

 

You can file criminal case even now.  Meet DCP or commissioner of Police after giving complaint in the local police and explain in detail the entire episode.  Or you can call me 7893011777 or contact ravinder2345@gmail.com for further doubts. 

 

Thanks Mr Ravinder.

 

Yes, it is true that I don't have any medical evidence that my mother died of injuries. This is a weakness. That is why I am being cautious. There is no point in wasting everyone's time if the case is too weak.

 

To clarify: The operation was performed by a local doctor running a private nursing home. Since it was not a reputed hospital or a government hospital, police was not informed. I also believe the doctor wouldn't have wanted any noise about the case by informing police. After all, he has a business to run.

 

Everyone (my relatives, my brothers, their wives, people living in the neighborhood) knows that my mother was beaten severely on a regular basis. Enough to leave wounds on her body for weeks and months. There would be many people who can be persuaded to testify in a court. One can't say with absolute certainty if she died of injuries, but it is not deniable that my father was really sick of my mother and badly wanted to 'get rid of' her. When she used to cry for help, people from the neighborhood used to come to her rescue (but not my brothers or their wives).

 

In short, it can't be proved clearly that she died of injuries from beatings. But the beatings, especially the one just the day before the day of death, did play a major role in her death. It can be extrapolated with rather ease, that whereas my father didn't kill her directly, he did wish to kill her and beat her enough before the day of death to guarantee a death the next day in the operation theater.

 

Very easy to understand the case, but may not be easy to prove in a court of law, as very few people would want to have an enmity with a neighbor by being a witness against him in a 8 year old death.

 

I wish to bring the killer to justice but feel pity that I wasn't able to do anything earlier and now I will have a very tough time finding documents and witnesses. Hence my hesitation. I suspect I have too weak a case to proceed with filing a case.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     12 February 2015

Yes, you can lodge a complaint at this stage too and secure the eye witnesses as well as any documentary evidence for your father's inhumanly behavior.  You may call on the office of the top brass police officer because the local police may not entertain the complaint at this belated stage also they may not effectively investigate the mater on their own until there is a pressure from the top level. Take the help of a local lawyer and proceed.

praveen   12 February 2015

Dear Mr Kalaiselvan,

 

Thanks for your valuable advice.

 

I would like to know what may serve as a documentary evidence to inhuman behavior of my father? If I record casual conversations with my family members/neighbors will it be admissible? What else can serve as documentary evidence?

 

Do I need to approach police with a complaint or do I need to do an FIR of the incident?


Is it mandatory to contact the police in my hometown (the city where incident happened) or can I do it in another city/state as well? Since I live far away, it will be suicidal for me to get into police/court rounds in my hometown.


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