Yadav’s body awaits court order

The controversy began when Yadav’s sister Jaya Devi filed a report with the police claiming that her 85-year-old spinster sister had died under mysterious circumstances.

For the past several years, Yadav had been living with her self-proclaimed disciple Ram Gopal Saini. It was he who had handed over her corpse to the hospital for research. The police ordered a post-mortem examination, only for the Rajasthan High Court to stall it.

The court swung into action after a local lawyer filed a PIL saying that the post mortem would deprive Yadav of her last wish. Taking note, the court has asked the police to look into the murder angle without resorting to an autopsy. Though the police have said there is no prima facie evidence of murder, the HC has directed the hospital to preserve the body till the issue is resolved.

Yadav’s family continues to insist that she may have been killed for property. The freedom fighter had several thousand square yards of property in her name in the heart of the city. Saini has claimed that Yadav bequeathed her property to him. Jaya Devi has a different version. ‘‘For the past several months, she was kept as a prisoner. Her captors tormented her physically,’’ she has alleged.

To buttress its claims, the family on Monday presented before the High Court several letters written by Yadav before her death. ‘‘In these letters, my sister had pleaded to be rescued from her tormentors. But nothing was done,’’ said Jaya.

Saini has denied the allegations and claimed that Yadav had given him rights to the property. And he has asked: Where was the sister when Yadav was still alive?

While the dispute rages, experts are worried about whether the freedom fighter’s last wish will be fulfilled. ‘‘The body will start decaying soon. After some time it will not be of much use for medical research,’’ said a professor at the SMS Hospital.