Bablu Sah’s wife Usha Devi (Image: EPS)
A man who was sent to judicial custody after he was thrashed by villagers in Godda, Ranchi on charges of stealing a goat, died in jail on Tuesday, allegedly due to lack of medical treatment, The Indian Express (IE) reported.
It was reported by IE that on June 17, Bablu Sah and his friend Uchit Kumar Yadav (30), residents of the Kanhwara village, were brutally thrashed by a mob on the suspicion of being goat thieves at the Pattharkani village which falls under the purview of the Pathargama police station in Godda. The duo was later arrested and directed to judicial custody.
Family accuses police of negligence
Jail authorities claimed that Bablu Sah (35), the victim, died of a cardiac arrest and was in perfectly good health before he fainted on Monday evening. However, Sah’s wife, Usha Devi, alleged that her husband was jailed without any treatment for the injuries he sustained in the assault, and succumbed to those on Monday.
Holding the police squarely responsible for her husband’s death Usha Devi alleged that the police, in a unilateral action, had arrested Sah and given a clean chit to those who had taken law in their hands and beaten him up.
The IE quoted Usha Devi as saying, “Had my husband been provided proper treatment after he was thrashed by the mob, he would not have died? A case must also be registered against those responsible for the death of my husband.”
Further accusing the police of inaction, she said that the police had visited her at 12 midnight on Monday and taken consent for her husband’s treatment, but when she reached the hospital with her other family members, he wasn’t to be found anywhere.
She told IE, “At 3 AM in the morning, a hospital staff took us to my husband, who was dead already,” demanding a high-level investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the death.
The case raises many questions with the claim of the Mukhiya of Kanhwara Panchayat, Parmanand Sah, who told IE that the documents provided by the hospital showed that Bablu passed away at 8:30 PM on Monday. “Then how come the police approached his wife to take consent for her husband’s treatment,” he questioned.
The police however, maintained its stance saying that there had been no negligence on their end. Jail Superintendent In-Charge, Sanjay PM Kujoor, who is also the Sub-divisional Magistrate told IE, “All of a sudden, he fainted while having a meal following which he was rushed to the hospital. He died later during treatment. Initial reports suggest that Bablu Sah died of cardiac arrest.”
Police registers murder case
The matter has received a lot of attention and since the role of the authorities came under the scanner, the police has now registered a murder case against 25 unidentified persons, apart from one Jayaram Tudu, based on Sah’s wife Usha Devi’s statement, Jagran reported.
On Thursday, Sadar SDPO Arbid Kumar Singh, Inspector Balbir Singh of Pathargama Police Station, Police Officer-in-charge Surendra Prasad Singh, etc. went to Kanhwara village of Sadar block, where the matter was investigated. The police have sent Sah’s body for a post-mortem to identify the cause of death.
Similar incidents across the country
In Mumbai, a 24-year-old was allegedly tied up and lynched on suspicion of being a thief in Saki Naka on June 15, 2020. While the victim, Satish Rajbhar, died after he was beaten up with plastic pipes, the police arrested three people in connection with the crime, The Hindu reported.
In another incident from Mumbai, four men, along with seven others were arrested last week for allegedly lynching a 19-year-old man in Mankhurd on the suspicion of theft on June 7. The man, who passed away due to his injuries after being beaten with bamboo sticks, had reportedly visited the area to collect scraps when the accused confronted him and assaulted him, The Logical Indian reported.
In a shocking incident in Jaipur, Rajasthan, three men allegedly stripped, and thrashed a 16-year-old boy after accusing him of stealing a goat. The incident took place in Balgarh village at around 10:30 PM on June 12, 2020, Times Now News reported. According to Lakshman Singh, the Station House Officer, the three alleged perpetrators also demanded Rs. 1 lakh for the victim after assaulting him. The probe in the incident is still underway.
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