Mangalore: The Many Missing Links to Serial Killer Mohan Kumar Case
by Florine Roche & Rajesh Shetty
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Oct 23: The confession of killing of 18 women by serial killer Mohan Kumar has sent shock waves among the people of undivided Dakshina Kannada District for whom the revelation is yet to sink in. That Mohan Kumar could get away with his heinous crimes for the past 5 years is shocking and has giving rise to many speculations on the collective failure of the law enforcers and also that of the society.
That Mohan Kumar was picking up his victims with excessive care is evident from the fact that most of his victims were from the low socio-economic background and were in the age group of late 20s and early 30s. A glib talker Mohan zeroed in on the victims in public places and charmed his way into their hearts with the promise of marriage without dowry. Puttur assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Dr Chandragupta who led the investigation that netted in Mohan Kumar says “The idea of lack of marital prospects must have prompted them to acquiesce to the idea of marrying without dowry”.
Lack of co-ordination
While the police cannot absolve themselves from the responsibility of their failure the lack of information from the parents of victims and sometimes misinformation (not deliberate) resulted in giving a long rope to Mohan Kumar. Dakshina Kannada superintendent of police Dr Subramaneyeshwar Rao speaking to Daijiworld said “we are focusing on strengthening the co-ordination between districts with regard to sharing information especially with regard to investigations into unidentified bodies and those cases of missing persons. A little effort on the part of the police in finding the common link of girls missing with cash and jewellery and their mysterious deaths in toilets, many of them in Mysore police limits would have pointed the needle of suspicion towards Mohan Kumar long back,” he said.
When asked whether it was the lack of effort on the part of police in solving these cases of 18 murders he said “it is easy to assume that the police have failed when one comes to the nitty-gritty of such cases. One has to understand the difficulties involved in such cases especially when family members of victims do not come forward with adequate information and sometimes misinform the police that completely dilutes the investigation. In the case of the victims of Mohan Kumar many parents were oblivious that their daughter had an affair with him. Sometimes the information provided about their affairs created more problems than solving it”. He however said that the police had zeroed in on him much before the Anitha case. It was the Anitha murder case that finally nailed him resulting in his arrest.
Communal overtones to missing case
But for the communal overtones attained by the missing case of Anitha of Bantwal taluk when Hindu organizations exerted pressure on the police, suspecting her missing under mysterious circumstances to be the case of the much talked about ‘love jehad’ that paved the way for setting up a special squad under Puttur ASP Dr Chandragupta to go into the details of her murder, many more vulnerable girls would have paid with their lives in the hands of this serial killer. That he could hoodwink young girls many a times, half his age, shows the vulnerability of these girls coming from low socio-economic background, who are exploited by people like Mohan Kumar.
With more skeletons coming out of the cupboard everyday the Mohan Kumar case has certainly created a kind of fear psychosis. It is not the time for blame game but to focus on how to take preventive measures so that we can avoid such incidents in future. Dr Subrahmanyeshwar says “from the point of view of the public parents have to have some idea about the people with whom their daughters are in contact with. Young girls should take their parents and siblings into confidence and give some information about the men they are in contact with. This is a wake up call for all of us, the public and the police. On our part we will focus on strengthening the inter-district co-ordination in solving unnatural deaths and suicides cases. This case has also strengthens the need to investigate thoroughly all suicide cases or in cases of unidentified bodies”.
He called upon the people to help the police by providing as much information as possible when a person is missing. Sometimes parents give an old school photograph of girls which is difficult to match with the decomposed bodies further complicating the case. Whenever people are found missing, the complaint to this effect has to be filed immediately which might help the police to obtain vital clues.
While the brutal incidents involving Mohan are coming out public wonders whether there is enough evidence to send him to the jaws of death. A police official on condition of anonymity says that there is no guarantee that Mohan Kumar could be implicated in the cases. There is hardly any evidence to show his involvement in the murders and he may just retract his earlier confessions.
Eminent criminal lawyer Padma Prasad Hegde however says “there is enough evidence to put him behind the bars or award a death penalty to him. The fact that he was the last to be seen with the victims is enough for the courts to implicate him. He has also confessed to his crimes leading to the recovery of many valuables and linking the deaths of other missing women. There is also practically no explanation from him on why the police charged him. As per the Supreme Court directives these evidences are enough to punish him in the court of law”.
It is very disheartening that many young girls have paid with their lives falling prey to the lecherousness of this loquacious, street-smart marauder who exploited them to the tilt for his own sexual shenanigans. While we pride ourselves on belonging to the land of the intelligent and the educated incidents of this nature is flak on the ills plaguing us! The public and the law enforces have to work in co-ordination to ensure such incidents do not recur.