Questions Around Judicial Magistrate Pratibha Gautam’s Death

Circumstances in which Pratibha died and her husbands behaviour raise a few questions around her death.

Twenty seven year-old Pratibha Gautam was posted as the judicial magistrate at Kanpur Dehat. (Photo: Pratibha Gautam’s Face Book Page)

Pratibha Gautam was posted as the Judicial magistrate of Kanpur Dehat. On Sunday she was found dead at her official residence. Her body was found hanging with her wrists slit.

On 17th October 2015, twenty seven year-old Pratibha Gautam was posted as an additional civil judge to Kanpur Dehat . On 7th May 2016 she was started working as the judicial magistrate.

She committed suicide or was murdered, is something investigations would reveal but the circumstances in which she died, raise a few questions already.

According to Pratibha’s husband Manu Abhishek Rajan, the husband and wife had a fight over something. (Photo: Pratibha Gautam’s Face Book Page)

Question 1: Why the driver and the domestic help are missing?

According to the information revealed by a source to The Quint Hindi, Pratibha’s personal driver Anuj and the domestic help have been missing since Pratibha’s death. The object that may have been used to slit the wrists is also missing from the crime scene.

Question 2: Why did her husband not call the Police?

According to Pratibha’s husband Manu Abhishek Rajan, the husband and wife had a fight, after which Pratibha left for Kanpur without informing him. Her phone was switched off. When Mr Rajan reached Kanpur searching for his wife, he found her hanging dead body.

Mr Rajan says he went to Cantonment police station and requested police to accompany him to the crime scene, not once or twice but four times. The police however denied to come with him. The question is, why did he not call the police control room or simply dialled 100?

Pratibha was three months pregnant when she died. (Photo: Pratibha Gautam’s Face Book Page)

Mr Rajan is a lawyer at Delhi high court and is well versed with legal and criminal aspects of evidence gathering from the crime scene. Why did he take down the body of his deceased wife? Was it an attempt to distort the crime scene?

Question 3: Why is he so defensive about everything?

When Pratibha’s family reached her residence, they accused Mr Rajan of ‘torturing’ her. While his wife laid dead, he kept defending himself in detail about his travel timings and toll tax receipts, which could be checked to ensure he was not in Kanpur. If he is innocent, why is he so defensive?

Friends who have know Pratibha and Manu for quite sometime reveal that they were a loving and understanding couple. (Photo: Pratibha Gautam’s Face Book Page)

Question 4: Who is that friend of Pratibha Gautam?

According to Mr Rajan, when Pratibha left Delhi, her phone was continuously switched off. He called one of Pratibha’s friend to locate her. A few hours later the friend told him that Pratibha’s phone is switched on and she can be contacted. Who is this friend and what does he/she know about the fight Pratibha had with her husband?

Question 5: Why did they fall apart so quickly after a love marriage?

Friends who have know Pratibha and Manu for quite sometime reveal that they were a loving and understanding couple. They got married without the consent of Pratibha’s family, and since her marriage on January 23 this year Pratibha never met her family that stays as close as 123 kilometres from Kanpur.

On October 7, Pratibha’s mother came to meet her, but she asked her to take a permission from Mr Rajan. What went wrong in a love marriage and pregnancy of three months that Pratibha died a mysterious death?