Lovely Varughese to approach Gov. Bruce Rauner.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Barely a week after a memorial service for Pravin Varughese was attended by over 500 people in Chicago, State’s Attorney Michael Carr has informed the Varughese family that a secret grand jury convened on his order has decided not to charge anyone with Pravin’s murder.
Pravin disappeared February 12, 2014, and his body was found six days later in the woods of Carbondale, where he attended Southern Illinois University.
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Controversy has clung to the case ever since, with details floating to the surface that have led many, including the Varughese family, to believe that foul play with malicious intent was involved. After the initial autopsy was found to be woefully inadequate in its scope and analysis, Pravin mother, Lovely Varughese, herself a trained nurse, had the body transferred for a second examination.
While the first examiner claimed that there were no injuries on the body and that Pravin had hypothermia, the second autopsy found there were three major injuries to his head from blunt trauma, and his eye was badly damaged, and he looked to have tried some sort of defensive move.
Related: Was Pravin Varughese murdered?
The secret grand jury decision means Gaege Bethune, the prime suspect in Pravin’s alleged murder, will indefinitely walk free.
When asked by the Varughese family’s attorney, how a decision could be reached without considering the second autopsy, Carr replied that he had no comment.
“It’s an obstruction of justice,” Lovely Varughese told The American Bazaar. “I had promised that I would do everything in my power to make sure [Bethune] could never do this to anyone again, but he’s off the hook. It’s sad that this is what our tax dollars pay for.”
According to Lovely, her family was devastated by the news.
“[Carr] had previously said that we would not be [looking further into Pravin’s murder], but it was so difficult to have him say that to my face,” she said.
Related: ‘A young man beat up Pravin Varughese the night he went missing’
As a result of the recent developments involving the secretly assembled jury, Pravin’s family will be reaching out to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner in an effort to have the State’s Attorney formally investigated.