Post-mortem report mentions injuries on Sonali Phogat's body; murder charge pressed against two associates

Goa Police on Thursday pressed a charge of murder against two associates of BJP leader Sonali Phogat after a post-mortem report mentioned that there were "multiple blunt force injuries" on her body.

Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code was added to the case related to the death of the 42-year-old leader, a senior police official said.

Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Wasi, who had accompanied Phogat when she arrived in Goa on August 22, were named as accused in the case, he added.

Her brother Rinku Dhaka had filed a complaint against the two men at Anjuna Police Station on Wednesday.

A panel of forensic experts from the Goa Medical College and Hospital conducted the autopsy on her body on Thursday morning after her family agreed to the procedure.

Dr Sunil Shrikant Chimbolkar of the Forensic Science Department of GMCH in his report reserved the opinion on the cause of death.

The cause of death due to the best of my knowledge and belief is reserved pending chemical analysis. Histopathology and serological reports of the tissues preserved, the report said.

"However there are multiple blunt force injuries over the body. In view of the above, the manner of death is for the investigating officer to ascertain," it added.

Phogat, who hailed from Hisar in Haryana and found fame on TikTok, was brought dead to the St Anthony Hospital in Anjuna in North Goa district on August 23 morning. The cause was given as a suspected heart attack.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters in Panaji on Thursday that state Director General of Police Jaspal Singh was personally monitoring the investigation.

The autopsy was earlier scheduled on Wednesday, but Phogat's brother claimed she was murdered by two of her associates and the family would agree to autopsy only after an FIR was registered against them. On Thursday morning, Sonali Phogat's nephew Mohinder Phogat told PTI that the family had consented to autopsy on condition that it would be video-graphed.

Dhaka, her brother, had alleged that a short while before her death, Phogat had spoken to her mother, sister and brother-in-law. She sounded disturbed during the conversation and complained against her two colleagues, he claimed. Three years ago, one of her aides had sexually assaulted her after spiking her food and later blackmailed her, Dhaka further alleged in the police complaint.