Bengaluru: Medical report hints at stomach injury; MUV under forensic test

Bengaluru: What led to the death of a six-year-old girl in Bengaluru in March: Abdominal injuries, asphyxiation or was it an intentional murder?P Vennela died on March 24, with police arresting her mother’s live-in partner on murder charges. Now, a histopathology report has indicated internal injuries in the victim’s stomach. Histopathology is a microscopic examination of tissue to study manifestations of a disease.In a police complaint, Vennela’s father Praveen had suspected Vennela was kicked in the stomach and smothered to death.Vennela, second daughter of now-estranged couple Praveen and Priyanka, died under mysterious circumstances. She was brought to Vaidehi Hospital by Priyanka and her friend Mohan. Priyanka claimed Vennela was asleep inside their multiutility vehicle (MUV) with glasses rolled up the previous night and this same could have choked her to death. The MUV is under forensic examination now.On June 4, Praveen filed a fresh case, accusing Priyanka and Mohan of murdering his daughter as she was an “obstacle” in their way. While Mohan is in 10-day police custody, Priyanka is still at large.To collect more evidence in this connection, cops have subjected the MUV, in which Vennela was asleep before her death, to a luminol test. The test is a water-based forensic solution and can detect blood diluted up to 10,000 times. The test will be carried out at a forensic science laboratory. If blood drops are found inside the MUV, they will be subjected to a DNA test and get confirmation of its owner.A senior police officer said they are recreating the crime scene by visiting all the places where Priyanka and Mohan, along with the victim, Vennela, travelled in their MUV on March 24.“After driving out from their Seegehalli villa in east Bengaluru, the couple and the child visited many shops and eateries in Indiranagar and nearby areas during the day. In the evening and night, they drove towards Hoskote and Kolar. In Hoskote, they had biryani and ice cream. Near Kolar, they stopped outside a coffee shop.“In her statement on March 24, Priyanka told us that soon after eating biryani and ice cream, Vennela fell asleep in the MUV back seat. She was asleep when they drove home from Kolar. Since she was still asleep, Priyanka physically carried her to the bedroom,” cops quoted Priyanka as saying.Cops collected the CCTV footage from the Seegehalli villa, where Priyanka and Mohan lived, and from eateries in Hoskote and coffee shop in Kolar.Eom