By Ghazala Ahmad
The death of a 22-year-old Dalit man inside Patti police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district has triggered allegations of custodial killing, with his father and sister accusing the police and the family of a teenage girl of conspiring to kill him.
Arjun Gautam (22), alias Shailesh, a resident of Molnapur village, was found dead inside Patti police station on Monday.
While police have claimed that he died by suicide after allegedly hanging himself in the toilet of the investigation room, his family has alleged that he was beaten while in police custody and that the circumstances surrounding his death require an independent investigation.
According to the complaint filed by Arjun’s father, Lalluram, the father and brother of the girl involved in the case had allegedly abused Arjun using caste-based slurs and threatened him after opposing his relationship with the girl.
The girl had previously left her home and was later traced.
According to the family’s account, she told the court that she had left home after being scolded by her family. A case registered against Arjun in connection with her disappearance was subsequently closed through a final report.
The girl left home again on September 16, following which her family lodged another complaint against Arjun.
According to Lalluram’s complaint, Patti police subsequently traced Arjun and brought him from Delhi to the police station. He was kept in police custody while the girl was sent to a one-stop centre.
The family alleges that they were not allowed to meet Arjun while he was being held at the police station.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.