A day after protests over the custodial death of 35-year-old Somnath Suryavanshi, the provisional post-mortem report of the Government Medical College in Aurangabad cited the immediate cause of death as ‘shock after multiple injuries’ and reserved its final opinion. Cause of death after chemical analysis and histopathological report.
Suryavanshi’s family members said their stance that he had been beaten up was confirmed by the report, which confirmed multiple injuries.
Somnath Suryavanshi, a law-abiding laborer in Parbhani, was among the 50 people arrested by the Parbhani police after violence broke out for vandalizing a replica of the Indian Constitution outside the Parbhani railway station.
After being sent to judicial custody, Suryavanshi complained of chest pain and died while being taken to the hospital, police said. Meanwhile, Suryavanshi’s body was taken from Aurangabad Hospital to Parbhani, where a large crowd had gathered to protest the police.
Advocate Pawan Jondh, representing Suryavanshi and the other accused arrested in the case, told The Indian Express, “We are saying that Suryavanshi died due to torture while in police custody for two days, which is clear. Injuries were found on his body. Apart from him, others arrested in this case said that they were also tortured by the police and even beaten in their private parts.
Jondhale has alleged that the police mistreated 10-12 teenage girls during the combing operation conducted by the police to arrest the complainants.
“We have videos of some of these incidents in which a woman was beaten up by the police and she fell unconscious, after which they left her at her residence. We are compiling them and will submit them to the authorities,” Jondh added.
Calls and messages to DGP Rashmi Shukla for a response to these allegations did not elicit any response. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shahji Umap, who is holding the post of Inspector General in Nanded, also did not respond to these allegations.
However, a senior official said that if the cause of death is due to injuries, the post-mortem report should not conceal an opinion on the final cause of death. The official said that they are looking for a report of the incident and action will be taken if anyone is found encroaching.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of Monday, the police did not allow Suryavanshi’s body to be kept Parbhani was taken from the hospital in Aurangabad and asked those gathered to take the dead body to Latur.
However, after a large crowd gathered near the hospital refused, the police finally allowed the body to be taken to Parbhani, where people gathered on the road to pay their respects.
On December 10, after Sopan Pawar vandalized the replica of the constitution, there were protests and stone-pelting the next day. After this, Parbhani police arrested 50 people including Suryavanshi and registered an FIR.
It is alleged that the police conducted a combing operation in the settlement to arrest some of the accused and behaved aggressively. According to the police, a total of eight FIRs have been registered in this case.
Suryavanshi of the Firante caste Nadar community was arrested on November 12 and sent to judicial custody on January 14. He was taken to a local hospital after complaining of chest pain, according to the local police.
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