Man allegedly commits suicide in MP police station; Probe on

Golu Sarthi, a 25-year-old man was found hanging in Kamla Nagar police lock-up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He allegedly committed suicide in the early hours of Saturday.

Police claim that the CCTV footage shows Sarthi tearing off the blanket and hanging himself with it. The authorities have ordered a probe into the matter. A judicial magistrate first class has been appointed to probe the matter.

He had two cases related to assaulting women in 2014 and 2021. Sarthi was charged with several sections including IPC 354 (assault on a woman to outrage her modesty) and he was released from jail a month ago.

The police had to arrest him again on Friday based on a complaint lodged by his sister-in-law, who accused him of assaulting her to outrage her modesty. Umesh Tiwari, assistant commissioner of police TT Nagar Area said the woman alleged that Sarthi was pressuring her to marry him after the death of her husband.

He added that the area sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) completed the legal formalities and sent the body for post-mortem. "If laxity of any policemen comes to fore, disciplinary action would be taken".

Several incidents of custodial deaths have been reported in the country in recent times. Tamil Nadu recorded 34 such deaths from 2017-to 2020. According to NHRC data, Gujarat (39), Maharashtra (33), and Madhya Pradesh (33) also rank high on the list.

Another data by NHRC says India has recorded 2,152 deaths in judicial custody and 155 deaths in police custody in 2021-2022. On average, this is more than six custodial deaths every day.