The Supreme Court has directed a CBI probe into the death of a 25-year-old Manipuri woman in Delhi, 11 years after her family claimed she was raped and murdered by politically influential people.

A two-judge bench said the death of the call centre worker — whose mutilated body was found in her blood-spattered Chirag Delhi apartment on May 29, 2013 — did not prima facie appear a suicide, as claimed by Delhi police.

Delhi High Court had in 2018 rejected a plea for a CBI investigation from the family, which had questioned the probe by the Delhi police’s special investigation team.

"The present appellants, who are close relatives of the deceased and are residents of the State of Manipur, have always claimed that it is a case of rape and murder, and the police (are) trying to shield the accused," the bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said in a recent judgment.

The Supreme Court said: “Apparently there seems to be no reason for a young girl of 25 years of age to commit suicide. Prima facie it does not seem to be a case of suicide. The crime scene shows that blood was spattered on the floor and the bed sheet was completely drenched in blood. It appears to be a homicidal death and therefore the culprits must be apprehended.”

It added: “...Unresolved crimes tend to erode public trust in institutions which have been established for maintaining law and order. Criminal investigation must be both fair and effective. We say nothing on the fairness of the investigation... but the fact that it has been ineffective is self-evident.

“The kith and kin of the deceased who live far away in Manipur have a real logistical problem while approaching authorities in Delhi, yet they have their hope alive, and have shown trust and confidence in this system.

“We are therefore of the considered view that this case needs to be handed over to CBI, for a proper investigation and also to remove any doubts in the minds of the appellants, and to bring the real culprits to justice.”

The court noted “some puzzling facts”.

“...The FIR was only registered by the police on 31.05.2013, initially under Section 306 of IPC (suicide abetment) against unknown persons, when there was blood spattered all over the room and the face of the deceased was smashed, as we are given to understand. It was only later converted to a case under Section 302 of IPC (murder),” it said.

The post-mortem, conducted on May 30, 2013 — a day after the body was found — observed: “a) Part of the nose is missing over the right side and a piece of it is attached on the left side; b) Nibbling marks present over both the upper eyelids; c) wound size of 5cm is present over dorsum of right foot; margins are irregular and show nibbling marks; d) all wounds are post-mortem in origin.”