Colaba murder: Docs to conduct psychological profiling of accused

Anil Chugani at the Colaba police station

The Colaba police are in the process of collecting circumstantial evidence to nail Anil Chugani, who is accused of killing three-year-old Shanaya Hathiramani by allegedly flinging her out of the seventh floor window of his flat. An officer privy to the investigation told mid-day that Chugani's psychological profile would likely be conducted at JJ hospital to integrate it with the circumstantial evidence that the Colaba police have gathered from the crime scene. "He has been telling us during interrogation that he is a victim of black magic and that he killed the girl to get rid of it. This could be his move to defend himself. So, now, we are in the process of conducting his psychological profile at JJ Hospital, which will be matched with the circumstantial evidence," said the officer.

Window 4 ft from ground

He said the window from where he flung Shanaya on Saturday evening is around 4ft from the floor and her height was a lot less than that. "This means the girl could not have climbed on to the window ledge and indicates that she was picked up and thrown out with some force. It is the reason that she [Shanaya] fell 20ft from the building," the officer said.

Shanaya Hathiramani

"And, since there was no one other than the accused and the victim in that room, as Chugani had bolted it from inside, it proves that he [Chugani] threw her out of the window," he added. Assistant professor of the psychiatry department at Sion hospital, Sagar Karia, said psychological profiling of an accused in such cases plays an important role in the criminal investigation." It [psychological profile] is built through evidence from the crime scene, which is integrated into psychological theory. He is then asked certain questions to ascertain if he is mentally stable or not; and secondly, certain tests are conducted to know the history of his mental illness, whether he is suffering from delusions, like black magic, etc," said Karia.

The police officer added that they are also taking the help of handwriting experts to ascertain if the diary had been maintained by Chugani or someone else. "Today, he confessed that he had been jotting down minute observations in the dairy which we have seized. But, we need to ascertain if the words and broken sentences written on its pages were jotted down by Chugani himself," said another officer.

Nimus Creations, the clothing store owned by Shanaya's parents in Colaba

A senior police officer told mid-day that the diary also mentions exactly how he would kill the twins. "He had written in his diary, 'When she comes, I will throw her out of the window'." Meanwhile, the investigators are also in the process of retrieving Call Data Records of Chugani to fortify the evidence against him. "The CDR will reveal his location and time; and these will be matched with the time of the crime. It will support our criminal investigation to nail him. Above all, he is seen taking Shanaya and her siblings with their nanny along with him into the building," the officer added.

"We have also recorded the statement of the nanny who told us that Chugani had bolted the door from inside after taking Shanaya with him and within seconds, she heard a loud thud and commotion from downstairs. Later, she learnt that Shanaya was either thrown off the window or fell off. But his [Chugani's] call to the control room is his electronic confession," the officer added. The cops have recorded the statement of nearly a dozen people in the case.

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