Faridabad SHO booked after suicide note accuses him of custodial harassment

The victim, due to retire in October, was being questioned in a 2017 electrocution case after directions from the Haryana Human Rights Commission.

A Faridabad police officer was booked for abetment of suicide on Monday after a government employee allegedly died by suicide, leaving behind a note accusing the officer of harassment during questioning in connection with a 2017 electrocution case, officials said.

Police said the suicide note will undergo forensic examination and CCTV footage from the police station has been preserved for investigation. (File photo)

Police said the 59-year-old victim, who was due to retire in October, had been called for questioning in a case in which three children and a woman were injured after a tree came into contact with a high-tension power line. At the time, police had registered a negligence case against unidentified officials of the power utility.

Pankaj Kumar, ACP (Mujesar), said the investigation had remained unresolved for years before the victims approached the Haryana Human Rights Commission seeking compensation. “The commission directed the police and the utility provider to fix responsibility after the company stated that three employees, including the deceased, were responsible for tree pruning and safety measures that could have prevented the electrocution. He was working as a lineman at the time,” Kumar said.

The ACP said the deceased and a retired senior official were called to the police station for questioning on Saturday and were allowed to leave later that night.

In his complaint, the victim’s son alleged that his father had been repeatedly summoned for questioning and was detained at the police station for nearly 10 to 12 hours on Saturday. “He was not even given water or allowed to use the toilet for several hours. When he returned home, he told us the SHO had harassed him throughout the day and threatened to arrest him on Monday,” the son alleged.

According to the complaint, the family found the victim hanging in his bedroom on Sunday morning. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

The son said that the family recovered a suicide note from the victim’s room in which he blamed the inspector for the harassment that drove him to take the extreme step.

The death triggered protests outside the private hospital, where family members, relatives and local residents refused to allow the post-mortem until action was taken against the police officer.

ACP Kumar said the suicide note would be sent for forensic examination.

Based on the complaint, police on Monday registered an FIR against the inspector under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Sector-58 police station. “There are CCTV cameras installed at the police station, and the footage has been preserved. It will be examined to ascertain what transpired during the questioning on Saturday. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings,” Kumar said.

The victim’s body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem examination on Monday.