BRIEF FACTS

After completing his Software Engineering from Global Engineering College, Deli, Indiana, Anirudh was awarded
a gold medal by his college, and as a part of the college placement programme, he was placed in a successful and
prominent company viz., Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. Anirudh was given the post of a software engineer in
Wenglore, Indiana with the package of Rs. 12,00,000 per annum with other allowances and a residential
accommodation. Anirudh’s mother, Tejaswi, was pleased to know about the job offer from such a reputed company.
However, she was also anxious as Anirudh was her only son and was fully dependent on her. Additionally, Anirudh
had previously undergone sessions with a psychologist due to instances of mental bullying during his college years.
Nevertheless, at the insistence of her husband, she agreed to send their son to Wenglore, Indiana. On 1st December
2022, Anirudh joined his company and received the appointment letter. He took a week to get settled in his office
and completed all the procedures regarding his residence at Wenglore. He was assigned to work with the IT
department. Anirudh was extremely obsessed with his work and tried to do everything perfectly without giving any
opportunity to his senior to scold him. In addition to this, he used to do overtime in the office as he was alone at
home. Many of his colleagues tried to be friends with him, but he constantly avoided them. Despite so many efforts,
Anirudh was not able to give the best results to his employer, due to which he lost many opportunities in the form of
working on prestigious projects, a hike in salary, etc. Anirudh was getting distressed with the passage of time, due to
which his mother decided to join him in Wenglore. Meanwhile, Anirudh’s secluded and oblivious conduct in the
office left him alone, and he became the reason for the constant talk and gossip of his colleagues. On 2nd February
2023, Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. proposed a 4 days trip to Sunnar in Merela for their employees from 11th
February 2023 to 15th February 2023. The entire expenditure, including travelling and hotel stay, was incurred by
the company. All the employees except Anirudh registered for the trip. One of Anirudh’s colleagues Samar and his
friends Sthir and Sahil made fun of Anirudh for his unsocial behaviour. They called him chicken-hearted and crazy
as they found out that Anirudh was visiting a psychologist. They challenged him to go on the trip along with them.
On being provoked, Anirudh decided to go for the trip. He was given accommodation along with other colleagues,
Rohan and Mayank. On the second day of the trip, all the colleagues went sightseeing where Samar and Sahil tried
to make fun of Anirudh as they could see that he appeared slightly nervous. Samar, Sthir and Sahil planned to play a
prank on Anirudh. They requested Rohan and Mayank to sleep in their room for one night without informing about
the same to Anirudh. All of them hid inside Anirudh’s room and, while he was sleeping, made scary noises which
frightened Anirudh. When Anirudh was about to leave the room, Sahil caught him from behind, and they all made
fun of him for his reaction. This made Anirudh restless and afraid. He panicked and decided to go back to Wenglore
the next day. The next morning, Anirudh went to his seniors and brought the incident to the notice of the seniors. The
boss called Sahil, Sthir and Samar and scolded them for their immature act and assured Anirudh that the same would
not happen again. The same night, again, Sahil and Samar decided to take revenge on Anirudh and in an inebriated
state, they went to Anirudh’s room to confront and scold him. Anirudh, on seeing them in such a state, tried to ignore
them and rush to his senior; however, he was stopped by them, and they forced Anirudh to drink alcohol. They yelled
at him for complaining about the incident to the senior and said that he should be ready to face the repercussions of
his action. They abused Anirudh for his cowardness and anti-social behaviour, which aggravated in the form of a
scuffle. In order to teach him a lesson, they stripped Anirudh and made him stand outside the room for the whole
night. The next morning on 14th February 2023, a few of Anirudh’s colleagues found his naked dead body lying in
the pool of blood outside the hotel. They immediately informed the police and police after making a prima facie
investigation, registered an FIR against Sahil and Samar u/s. Section 302, 341, 354A, 355, 506 IPC.
Note: The laws of Indiana are in-pari-materia with India.
Disclaimer: This mock trial is entirely fictional and for educational purposes only. The problem presented, as well
as the characters involved, are entirely fictitious and bear no resemblance to real-world events, individuals, or
organizations. The purpose of this mock trial is to simulate legal proceedings and allow participants to develop their
skills, but it does not provide legal advice or reflect real legal practices. Any similarities to actual persons, living or
deceased, are purely coincidental. By participating, you acknowledge that this mock trial has no connection to the
real world and should not be interpreted as such.
 Statements under Section 161 CrPC
Mrs. Tejasvi (PW1) - My name is Tejasvi, age 55, and I am mother of Anirudh. He was my only son. He was very
good at studies and got a placement in M/S Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. My son was a shy person since childhood.
He appeared uncomfortable in social gathering. This shyness has persisted over time and has impacted his ability to
gel up with people. After joining the office, he was not happy and he called me several times indicating some sought
of problems he was facing. I decided to join him in Wenglore. I have noticed that my son often returns from work
visibly stressed. He has sometimes mentioned feeling overwhelmed by the workload. On several occasions, my son
has shared instances where he has felt mocked by his colleagues at work. These incidents have left him feeling
uncomfortable and self-conscious. He has this persistent fear of being judged or humiliated at the office which
resulted in his increasing stress and anxiety. Over time, I have observed my son started isolating himself in his room
and often expressed signs of withdrawal from activities he once enjoyed which included going to office due to
continuous mockery and bullying in office.

Mr. Sanjay Nair (PW2) - My name is Sanjay Nair, 53 years old and I am the director of Vesalius Technology Pvt.
Ltd. Situated in Wenglore. Anirudh joined this office on 1st December 2022 in IT department. He has been a
dedicated and hardworking employee of our company. He has consistently shown a high level of commitment. He
often immersed himself in the work and did overtime. However, there have been certain incidents that came to my
attention that he consistently avoided most of the office parties or gatherings and preferred to keep a certain distance
from social interactions at the office. On a particular occasion he approached me to complain about an incident that
occurred during an office trip. He was bullied by three employees of my office namely Sahil, Sthir and Samar who
played pranked on him. This incident seemed to have had a significant impact on his mentalbeing. I took these
allegations of bullying seriously and promptly addressed the issue upon receiving the complaint from Anirudh and
assured him that it will not happen again in future. On 14th February I was going for a morning walk when the hotel
staff pulled me towards the hotel courtyard where I saw Anirudh naked lying face down in the pool of blood.
Thereafter I immediately called the police.

Raj Pal (PW3) - My name is Raj Pal, 36 years old and I work as a housekeeper at Serenity Springs Resort. I arrived
at work on 14th February 2023 at approximately 5:30 A.M. it was a normal day until I saw a naked body lying in the
pool of blood. The sight left me shocked and distressed. Then I saw the director of the company staying with us
walking towards the gate. I grabbed his hand and took him to the hotel courtyard where the body was lying restless.
Rohan (PW4) - I am Rohan. I have been working in Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. since November 2020. I am
working under the PR department as Office Manager. I knew Mr. Anirudh as a fellow employee however, we were
not under the same department so I don’t know much about him. I have seen Anirudh working late nights in office
but I never asked him the reason for the same. Generally, in order to understand the working condition in a new office
and to settle with the new environment people take their own time and spend more time in office to get themselves
comfortable. So, I felt same in case of Mr. Anirudh also. During the trip, I, Mayank Sir and Anirudh were sharing
the room together. At that time also, hardly any words were exchanged between us as we went in our rooms for
sleeping only and we were all tired. However, the next morning I and Mayank sir woke up around 9:00 AM and we
didn’t find Anirudh in the room. After getting ready for the day, we were leaving the room when Anirudh entered the
room. We asked him for the breakfast, to which he replied that he is not feeling well and wants to rest. Then we left
the room and handed over the spare key to Anirudh. Same day at around 7:00 PM, Sahil came to me and Mayank sir
and requested us to sleep in their room that night as they wanted to spend time with Anirudh. We didn’t mind it. On
13th February 2023 the company had planned a Bon Fire and Barbeque evening. We attended the same and went to
bed just before midnight. At around 2 in the night, I heard some noises coming from the terrace of the hotel. I went
out to check and saw Samar and Sahil coming down from the stairs and entering their room. Then I realized that
disturbances were no longer there so I went back to sleep. I woke up because of the commotion outside the room. I
woke Mayank sir up and when we went outside, we saw Anirudh lying in a pool of blood surrounded by a crowd of
people.
Sahil Yadav (DW1) - I am Sahil and I work with Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd since 2019. I have been working in
the IT department as Office Manager. I and Anirudh were working together on several projects but I could not gel
well with him. Despite being my junior, he always used to challenge my authority in front of my team members. He
could never meet deadlines and mostly used to stay back at the office to complete his tasks. I personally found it very
confusing that despite of his efforts, he could not compete with people who had joined with him. I have heard it
through office gossips that he used to keep some tablets in his office desk to enhance his performance. Now I do not
know what the pills were for, but it didn’t make him a desirable employee that I wanted on my team. Just to take
tension off his mind, I and Samar used to joke around with him so that he can also relax but he was so arrogant that
instead of taking it sportingly, shouted at me infront of the whole office. Also, his way of working was more
troublesome for other colleagues. He used to create unnecessary challenges and problems for others working with
him in the same project. Initially, people were trying to be friends with him but his constant cold attitude towards
other colleagues left him alone. I was not having any personal grudge with Anirudh but I didn’t like his arrogant
behavior towards other employees especially me being his immediate senior. Anyways, when we all were on this trip
our company had planned, I and Samar decided that probably Anirudh will lighten up and become our friend. On
12th Feb 2023, we hid in Anirudh’s room and surprised him when he came inside the room but instead of joining us
in our merry, he reacted the same way as he has been behaving since day one of knowing him. We decided to let go
of the situation and leave him alone. The Next day, Our Director Sanjay Nair called us and scolded us for humiliating
Anirudh. We were so disheartened that we decided that we will express our anguish to Anirudh. Samar and I
exchanged the rooms with Rohan and Mayank and decided to confront Anirudh. After the bonfire night, we met
Anirudh in his room and told him that what he did really hurt us. He apologized to us and we all decided to bury the
hatchet, and had some celebratory drinks. After few drinks, Anirudh started behaving very strangely. He started
dancing like crazy and started to take off his clothes. Samar and I told him to stop this immediately, but he ignored
us and went out of the room completely naked. We physically pulled him back in the room, but he pushed us so hard.
We tried to stop him but he was in no mood to listen to us or anyone else. Samar pointed towards a pill bottle on the
desk of Anirudh and we immediately knew something is up with him. Samar and I were also in an inebriated state,
so we unfortunately slept in the room, hoping that Anirudh will soon come back to his sense and return to the room.
The next morning, I woke up and heard someone screaming so I immediately went out to see what was going on and
to my shock and horror, found Anirudh lying face down in the Hotel Compound with blood everywhere.
Samar Bhardwaj (DW2) - I am employee of Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd in IT department. I have been working
here since the past two years. Sahil and I joined the company together at the same post. Anirudh joined recently. He
was very strange. He was very unsocial and despite our repeated efforts to welcome him, he continued to avoid all
of us. I believe he used to remain alone in the flat. He only used to report to high superiors to get their appreciation.
He was appreciated by the seniors only for his hard work but not for the quality of work he used to submit. Sahil
used to complain about the irritating behaviour of Anirudh so we both decided that we will use this trip to be his
friend, since living alone can be very troublesome for new people. During the trip, Anirudh’s behavior was very
discourteous as he rejected our friendly advances. Almost every colleague started disliking him and ignoring him for
his behavior. Though I was not interested in talking to him but on the insistence of Sahil we went to his room on 12th
February, but he insulted us and reported falsely about us to our senior. We decided to confront him and during the
night (13th February) we again went to his room but he appeared very frustrated on seeing us. We offered him some
alcohol and he agreed to take some drinks with us.
Since I drank a lot, I slept almost immediately. Samar woke me up suddenly and said that Anirudh has gone crazy,
help me to stop him. Anirudh was naked at that time. I grabbed his hand and tried to stop him but he ran outside the
room. I saw a pill box in the room and told Samar that he will be back once his mental state goes back to normal. We
both slept. I woke up the next morning and discovered that Anirudh was lying dead in the hotel compound.
Mayank (DW3) - I am Mayank working in Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. since 2019. I am working under the PR
department. Since the time Anirudh had joined office, he appeared to be a reserved person and whenever I saw him
in office, he worked hard day and night. Unfortunately, his boss was not very impressed by him, as far as what I have
heard. Once I specially went to Anirudh for inviting him on my birthday but he seemed disinterested even in accepting
my invite. I remember he didn’t even wish me and didn’t come to the party also. But I already knew that he was very
reserved to himself so his behavior didn’t bother me and I never asked him about this. After that, I met him next
during the trip. I already knew that Anirudh is not very social person and usual he seemed aloof. On 12th February,
2023, Rohan told me that we will be sleeping in Sahil’s room that night. Although I got very irritated because of this
but since Rohan had already agreed, I went along with it. Next day we got to know about the complaint made by
Anirudh from the senior. I hardly gave any importance to that. During the night of 13th February after the Bon fire,
we went to sleep. Next morning Rohan woke me up and said that some noises are coming from outside. The next
moment we saw Anirudh lying lifeless in the hotel compound.
Dr. Sushil Kapoor (Psychologist) (DW4) - My name is Dr. Sushil Kapoor, psychologist based in India. I have
graduated and post graduated from Jai Hind College in BA(Hons) Psychology specialization in providing individual
therapy to who are suffering from anxiety, depression, and trauma etc. I have done PhD in 2018. Mr. Anirudh was
my regular patient. He used to visit me once in a month. Based on my professional assessment and interactions with
Anirudh I found him obsessed with his work. He dedicated an excessive amount of time and energy to his work and
neglected other aspects of his life. He was a sensitive person, showed hesitancy to engage in social interactions and
demonstrated discomfort when faced with social situations. His reluctance to socialization seemed to be related from
a deep-rooted fear of judgment and rejection. It became apparent during therapy sessions that he experienced
significant stress and anxiety related to his office work. The pressure to meet high expectations, coupled with his
obsessive tendencies, resulted in chronic stress levels that negatively impacted his mental wellbeing. The workplace
environment appeared to contribute significantly to his overall distress. He also shared accounts of being bullied
during his school years which lead to building up of suicidal tendencies in him. The traumatic incidents he
experienced have had a lasting impact on his emotional and psychological state which resulted in his diminished
self-esteem, increased vulnerability, difficulties in socializing and establishing trust in interpersonal relationships. In
order to make his life easier I recommended him to a renowned psychiatrist who in turn prescribed him anti-
depressants.
Sthir’s (DW5) - I am employee of Vesalius Technology Pvt. Ltd. I have been working in this company for past two
years. I had seen Anirudh at my workplace and tried to talk to him but when I noticed on several occasions that he
was not interested so I backed off. A trip was planned by our company so we all were very excited. On 12.02.2023,
I was standing with Samar and Sahil and we saw Anirudh being the lone self that he was. We tried to cheer him up
but as usual he ignored us and walked off. That was the last time I saw him. On 14.03.2023, my roommate woke me
up and something devastating has happened and then I rushed to see Anirudh lying in such deplorable state.