Aatmja Kumari(Intern Journalist): In Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, there have been reports of a man allegedly dying in police custody. It is known that this 19-year-old man died in police custody on Sunday morning. The local police station in-charge was suspended on Sunday after the family protested and accused him of harassment. However, the police say that the man taken into custody on charges of stealing a bike on the detained person was already showing symptoms like pneumonia, trouble in breathing, which is being linked to coronavirus.
For 19 years, Monu alias Mohit was arrested on Friday from the Lalganj area of Rae Bareli, 80 km from Lucknow. He was accused of having links with a gang involved in motorcycle theft. Mohit belonged to a Dalit family. Earlier, four other people were also arrested in the case of theft.
All five were illegally detained at the police station for more than 24 hours. Monu’s family alleges that he was tortured in police custody. Her family and local people staged a protest in front of the police station after the news of her death. Monu’s brother Sonu told, “They (the police) had picked me up and my brother. Those people kept asking him where is the key. He had badly killed Mohit in the police station.
The police denied the allegations that harassed Monu, claiming that he died in the district hospital, though he was still in his custody at the time. He claims that he had symptoms such as being coronavirus. Rae Bareli Police Chief Swapnil Mamgain says, ‘On Saturday evening, Monu complained of stomach ache, then he was taken to a nearby doctor and he was given medicines. He fell ill again on Sunday morning, then was immediately taken to the district hospital.
However, senior police officers have admitted that they were illegally detained. Mumgain said, ‘The first investigation has revealed that the accused were illegally detained for more than 24 hours. For this, we have suspended the station in-charge because they should not have illegally detained the accused of more than two days.
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