Postmortem report in Vennela murder case on March 25 indicated foul play, FIR on June 4 only

The autopsy report of 6-year-old Vennela, dated March 25, 2026, a copy of which was made available by The Hind, suggests foul play. But the FIR was registered only on June 4.

The Kadugodi police registered only an unnatural death register (UDR) report on March 25, the day the girl was found dead.

On the same day, an autopsy concluded that the cause of death was “Death is due to the combined effect of asphyxiation due to airway obliteration and blunt force trauma to the abdomen”. The autopsy report also lists seven ante-mortem wounds, all ante-mortem—persistent before death—all in the child’s facial area, nasal area, under the chin, left jaw area.

Senior police officials said the post-mortem report was inconclusive. References to “asphyxia due to airway obliteration” and “blunt force trauma to the abdomen” clearly indicated foul play, pointing to murder, the official said.

However, the police, who did not convert the UDR report into a case of murder, raised questions. This came under scrutiny and three officers were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.

The complainant in the Praveen case, the father of the deceased girl, said that he had separated from his wife and the girl was living with her mother. He said his brother-in-law informed him about the girl’s death on the morning of March 25. He said his wife Priyanka claimed that the girl was eating biriyani from outside, was sleeping and was found dead on March 25, while she also claimed that the girl was sleeping in an AC car the previous evening and was found dead the following morning.

In his complaint, he further stated that he sent the autopsy report to a doctor who noted signs of malpractice. But the police registered the FIR for the murder only on June 4.

Published – 18 Jun 2026 21:52 IST