Sangrur: Four booked for abetment 3 days after 23-year-old dies by suicide

The FIR has been registered against sarpanch Deep Singh, his brother Gurinder Singh alias Goga, former panchayat member Harbans Singh and his wife.

Three days after a 23-year-old man in Sangrur died by suicide on September 25, police have booked the village sarpanch and three other residents of Kanoi village under Section 108 (for abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Three days after a 23-year-old man in Sangrur died by suicide on September 25, police have booked the village sarpanch and three other residents of Kanoi village under Section 108 (for abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The FIR has been registered against sarpanch Deep Singh, his brother Gurinder Singh alias Goga, former panchayat member Harbans Singh and his wife.

The FIR, a copy of which is with HT, alleges that the four had been threatening the victim’s family and hurling casteist slurs at them for several years in connection with a 2019 case registered against the sarpanch and others.

The victim’s family alleged that their son consumed a poisonous substance because the sarpanch, his brother, Harbans and his wife threatened them.

“As no action was taken against the sarpanch and his associates for threatening the family, their son took the extreme step,” the complainant said.

The FIR further alleges that the SHO of Sadar police station recorded the victim family’s statements after repeated requests, but DSP Sangrur allegedly tore the pages under political pressure and said that no FIR would be registered in the case.

He, however, denied the allegation of delaying the statements, stating that the victim’s family themselves delayed the process. “They first denied giving statements to police and then later refused to sign them,” he said. The complainant alleged that a “false case was registered against the victim and six members of his family in May this year following the intervention of cabinet minister Aman Arora”. Arora did not respond to repeated calls and texts seeking comment.

The DSP did not respond to queries regarding Arora’s name in the case.

Meanwhile, the victim’s family is refusing to allow the post-mortem examination until the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are added to the FIR.

“The family hasn’t come forward with any evidence to back their claims for the addition of the SC/ST Act section to the FIR,” DSP Dalbir said.