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Journalism of Courage
One January afternoon this year, Piyush Bhandalkar was playing marbles with his younger brother and friends in their village in the Baramati taluka of the Pune district. A short while later, their father arrived and took the two boys home. Within a couple of hours, Piyush, 9, was rushed to a doctor, where his family claimed he had fainted and fallen unconscious.
The doctor pronounced him dead. His body was later taken to their home and subsequently to a local crematorium. At the crematorium, as Piyush’s mortal remains were kept on the unlit funeral pyre, the Pune rural police had arrived at the scene after receiving information about the suspicious death. What followed was a chilling revelation: the boy had not fainted but had allegedly been murdered by his own father, who tried to pass off the crime as a medical episode.
Piyush and his younger brother lived with their father Vijay Bhandalkar, 40, who worked as a staffer with the gram panchayat office of the Hol village in the Baramati taluka, located around 90 km from Pune. Piyush’s mother had been separated from his father for a few years.
Hasty preparation for funeral raises doubt for police
Probe into Piyush’s death started after the Vadgaon Nimbalkar police station received information on the evening of January 14 about suspicious circumstances surrounding it and the hasty preparation for his funeral.
Following directions from Inspector Sachin Kale of the Vadgaon Nimbalkar police station, Sub Inspector Rahul Sabale and his team rushed to the crematorium. Amidst a highly sensitive situation among hundreds of emotional residents, the team convinced people that a post-mortem was necessary to rule out any suspicions. Vijay, his mother Shalan and cousin Santosh created a scene and did not allow the police to take the body.
The police finally navigated the situation and took the body for a post-mortem examination. The advanced report of the autopsy suggested that the death had occurred due to compression of the neck, pointing to strangulation.
The police subsequently launched a murder investigation. A probe revealed that Vijay allegedly picked up Piyush and his brother when they were playing marbles with friends. The police started piecing together the sequence of events from those within the family and those known to the family. Meanwhile, the last rites of Piyush were conducted after the body was released to the family.
Police investigation revealed that Vijay, after reaching home, allegedly started thrashing Piyush for not studying and wasting time. He kept shouting that Piyush “was behaving like his mother”, said the police.
At one point, Vijay allegedly slammed Piyush’s head against a wall, causing him to become unresponsive. Vijay then strangled his son to death, said the police. Vijay, Shalan, and Santosh allegedly started telling people that Piyush had fainted.
Family ignores doctor’s advice to do autopsy
Piyush was first taken to a doctor in Vadgaon Nimbalkar and then to another in Purandar, who pronounced him dead. The doctor in Purandar directed the family to take Piyush’s body to the government hospital for an autopsy. But instead, the family took his body home and later to the crematorium, said the police.
After establishing the complete sequence of events, the police arrested Vijay on the charges of murder, and Shalan and Santosh on the charges of giving false information to screen the offender. Subsequently, they filed a chargesheet against the trio.
Currently, Vijay is in prison under judicial custody, while Shalan and Santosh are out on bail. A trial against them is pending.
