Dalits protest over constable’s suicide; 3 cops, scribe booked

Jaipur: After the son of deceased constable Babu Lal Bairwa filed an FIR on Friday and a large number of people from Dalit community protested, additional superintendent of police Jagdish Vyas, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar) Anil Kumar Sharma, SI (Murlipura) Ashutosh Singh, and journalist Kamal Degda, resident of Sinwar Mod in Binadayaka were booked for abetment of suicide.

Bairwa hanged himself inside the Mukundpura outpost of Bhankrota police station on Thursday, leaving behind a six-page handwritten suicide note in which he blamed the three police officials and the scribe for driving him to take the extreme step.

The accused were booked under IPC Section 108 (Abetment of suicide), 61 (Criminal conspiracy), 199(a) (Knowingly disobeying any direction of the law), 201 (Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), and relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act.

The deceased’s son alleged that for the past one year, senior police officials and the journalist Degda had been harassing his father over a property case, causing severe mental stress. “My father shared his ordeal with us and also with his acquaintances,” Tanuj said. Another relative mentioned that on Thursday, Bairwa had left his home in a despondent mood to attend duty, and later ended his life.

Several Dalit organisations gathered outside the SMS hospital mortuary on Friday, protesting against the three police officials named in the FIR. “This is just another tragic episode where a Dalit constable has been harassed by his seniors,” said Naresh Kumar, one of the protesters.

The Jaipur police said that the investigation has been handed over to a senior police official. “We are examining the contents of the suicide letter left by the head constable,” said an official.

Bairwa and the then Station House Officer (SHO) of Bhankrota were suspended last year in connection with a property dispute case. In his letter, Bairwa claimed that he was treated unfairly in the matter and insisted that the role of the senior police officials also be probed.

He wrote that the investigation was conducted based on incorrect facts and demanded a CBI probe into the matter. Bairwa also alleged that the accused used caste-based slurs to insult him, which caused him mental agony. He claimed that he had been suffering from depression for almost a year.

Convener of the Scheduled Caste-Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, Anil Gothwal, said that protestors have submitted a memorandum to the govt demanding a job for the kin of the deceased and the arrest of all the accused. “We are talking to the administration about the demands listed in the memorandum,” he said. Till late evening, the protestors sat outside the SMS hospital mortuary and the post-mortem is yet to be done.

Courtesy : TOI

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