How did Sonali Phogat die? Actor was drugged at Curlies, then beaten to death with a blunt object?

PANAJI: The doctors at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) who conducted the post mortem on actor and politician Sonali Phogat have reserved their opinion on the exact cause of her death.

They have recommended chemical analysis, visceral tests, histopathological and serological tests to determine the exact cause of death. Unless these results are out, it will be difficult to say how exactly Sonali Phogat died.

However, while the cause of death is noted as “undecided” in the provisional death certificate issued to the family along with the body, the certificate does mention the presence of “multiple blunt force injuries” on the dead body of Sonali Phogat. ALSO READ: Accused PA forced Phogat to perform oral sex on him in the toilet?

While a wafer-thin chance does exist that it may be possible that these blunt force injuries were caused post mortem while Phogat fell or was taken to hospital, such a scenario is very unlikely, because such post mortem injuries would be on only one or two parts of the body, caused due to falling or colliding or banging (in an ambulance or police van due to very bad roads for example).

According to a prominent medical encyclopedia, post-mortem refers to a forensic investigation of the cause of death, and it is done after the occurrence of the death of the person.

Ideally, post-mortem examination results are based on the form of injuries detected on the corpse. In practice, there are two types of injuries involved in forensic pathology; ante-mortem and post-mortem injuries. Post-mortem injuries can occur while the dead body is moved from one place to the other by police or healthcare workers or persons who locate and find the body, say in case of a road accident.

Ante-mortem injuries occur before death, whereas post-mortem injuries occur after death. Therefore, ante-mortem refers to events occurring prior to death, while post mortem means after death has occurred.

According to medical experts who spoke to this reporter, commenting on the death certificate and its observations therein, it is very possible that Sonali Phogat was drugged at the restaurant Curlies where she had her dinner and was beaten or thrashed to death in the hotel room, when she fell drowsy and dozed off or maybe a fight took place inside the hotel room or someone tried to force himself on her and she resisted, resulting in injury to her person.

According to a news byte given by deputy superintendent of Police (Mapusa) Jivba Dalvi to media persons, the day she died, “Preliminary enquiry revealed that she had come to Goa on August 22 and was staying in a hotel in Anjuna. Early morning (day of death) she started feeling uneasiness at the hotel and was shifted to St Anthony’s hospital in Anjuna, wherein she was declared brought dead,” Dalvi is quoted as saying by reporters. ALSO READ: How rich was Sonali Phogat? Sonali Phogat’s net worth? Sonali Phogat’s wealth and assets?

At that point in time, this was obviously the version given to the cops by her assistants and the cops weren’t suspicious as the cause of death was being said as “heart attack”.

It is a matter of fact that Sonali Phogat returned to the hotel (where she was staying) the next morning (Tuesday). She was at the Curlies restaurant at Anjuna (where she also had drinks and dinner) for the most of the night/early morning. During that time, while at the restaurant, she made several calls to her family members who have admitted receiving her calls and speaking to her.

Her sister Raman said Phogat had telephoned her mother and told her about not feeling well after she had her food on Monday night at the Curlies restaurant.

“She said she was feeling uneasy. She sensed as if something was not right, as if some conspiracy was being played against her,” her sister is quoted as telling media persons.

Phogat’s sister also alleged that Sonali suspected someone had mixed something with her food and that she had doubts that she was poisoned.

She was feeling uneasy at the restaurant, yet stayed at the same restaurant for most part of the night, not returning to her hotel before dawn. Maybe, she wanted to stay in a public, open place like the restaurant. Maybe she was scared of returning to the hotel in the company of her PA and his friend during the night.

Whatever the reason, it is a matter of fact that Sonali returned to her hotel in the morning. After a few hours, or even lesser, she was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared “dead on arrival”. Which means either Sonali died at the hotel itself or on the way to the hospital from the hotel.

She was at the hotel only for a few hours, or even less than that, before her body (dead) was taken to the hospital. What is very surprising is why did she continue to stay at the Curlies restaurant for most of the night, when she was feeling unwell and uneasy or suspected foul play by her assistants, as mentioned by her in her phone calls to her family. Why didn’t she seek medical or police help then and there? Was she scared of her manager and his friend?

Goa is ruled by a BJP government and Sonali Phogat was a BJP leader in Haryana who had even contested MLA elections. It is obvious she had good contacts with senior BJP functionaries. She probably knew how to get out of sticky situations or could have dialed 100 and requested the police to take her to a hospital, if she sensed something was amiss or if she suspected she was drugged or poisoned at the restaurant by her own staff. She could have asked the restaurant staff for help, if she suspected her own people.

CCTV cameras, both at Curlies and at her hotel would have recorded the condition in which she left the restaurant and entered her hotel in the early morning. Hopefully the Goa police have secured all this evidence?

The question arises is what happened in the few hours (or less) that she was in the hotel, till the time she was rushed to the Anjuna hospital and declared ‘dead on arrival’.

Who was with her in her room? Being a single woman she would definitely not be sharing the room with her PA or other staff.  A lot of questions remain unanswered. The role of the hotel staff, if they noticed something amiss, they should have immediately informed the police.

An unverified report on a website claims that Sonali was staying in the same room as her PA Sudhir Sangwan, which also means that Sangwan was with her in the same hotel room while she was unwell. The same unverified website report claims Sonali and her PA had a few alcoholic drinks at Curlies and went together to their room. Another report claims “two rooms were booked at the hotel”, which means Sonali was probably alone in her room.

Now one question that remains unanswered? If Sonali suspected her PA and feared for her life and informed her family of the same (as narrated by her family members), while at the restaurant, why didn’t she call for help? Why did she go back to the hotel room with Sangwan?

May be hotel staff in Goa are probably used to seeing drunk celebs being carried to their rooms by managers and PAs. Yes, it happens in Mumbai too, where high-rise, posh-building security staff are used to seeing actors, both male and female, visibly drunk, carried or helped to their apartments by drivers and their personal security staff.

It is now quite obvious Sonali died after reaching her hotel, in the hotel, or on the way to the hospital. How was she taken to the hospital from the hotel? Was she alive, when she was taken out of the hotel? The hotel staff at the reception and security also have a lot of answering to do. Why didn’t they immediately alert the police?

Medical experts claim the ‘multiple blunt force injuries’ could be caused only inside her room. The chances of those blunt injuries on her person occurring while she was being taken to the hospital from her hotel are rare, unless she fell down and toppled down the stairs, or something like that.

This only means that Sonali was beaten or thrashed with a blunt object at the hotel, possibly inside her room, while she was drowsy and dizzy and then taken to the hospital. Maybe a fight took place between her manager and her in which Sonali got injured.

Maybe someone tried to force himself on her, trying to sexually assault her, while she was drowsy and she fought off the attacker, thus incurring the ‘blunt force injuries’ on her person, which could also be caused by fist or kicks.

Maybe whoever tried to sexually assault her in her room, thrashed her to death, after the failed attempt, because he knew the sexual assault attempt would be reported if she stayed alive?

The doctors have not mentioned any indications of sexual assault or rape. This means that her attacker only attempted to molest her and then when she resisted him, thrashed her to death.

The Goa police have a lot of detecting work to do. We just hope Jivba Dalvi, Shobit Saxena and team do not botch up this case, which has garnered national attention? Goa police your time starts now!

The nation wants to know – who killed Sonali Phogat and how?