Begusarai youth hangs self in police custody

BEGUSARAI/ PATNA: A 21-year-old youth, who was arrested for eloping with a minor, committed suicide in police custody in Begusarai after he was informed that his girlfriend had given a statement accusing him of abducting her, police said on Wednesday.
Vikram Kumar, a Class XII student of a local undergraduate college, hanged himself from the ceiling fan in a room near the lockup inside Birpur police station on Tuesday evening soon after he came to know that his 17-year-old girlfriend, who studies in the same college, had “betrayed” him in court.
Kumar, a native of Parra village under Birpur police station in Begusarai district, and his girlfriend were traced to New Delhi on Monday and were brought to Birpur where he was interrogated in a kidnapping case filed by the girl’s father. The girl was sent to the sadar hospital for medical examination and later produced in a court where she recorded her statement on Tuesday.
The girl, who is from the same village as Kumar, told the court that she was kidnapped for marriage and subsequently taken to New Delhi by the accused.
“Kumar was allowed to go out as he wanted to use the toilet. But due to laxity on the part of the constable on duty, he sneaked inside a room near the lock up and hanged himself with the ceiling fan. Realising that the boy is taking too long, the constable started looking for him and found him hanging in the room,” SHO Amar Kumar said.
As the news about the custodial death spread in the town, Kumar’s family members and relatives gathered outside the police station demanding a probe. SDPO Rajan Sinha reached the police station to pacify the crowd and the body was sent to the sadar hospital for autopsy. The victim’s father, Dukho Poddar, demanded a fair investigation and action against the police personnel.
Sinha said the SHO of Birpur police station was out when the incident took place on Tuesday evening. “The SHO was on patrolling duty to enforce the lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak,” SDPO Sinha told this newspaper over phone.
He, however, hastened to add that he had recommended disciplinary action against the SHO for his negligence. Later, the SHO was shifted to the police lines. Begusarai SP Awakash Kumar said a medical team was set up to conduct the autopsy and the process was video recorded as per guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission.
Earlier, DM Arvind Kumar Verma ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.