Patna, May 14: A day after a 22-year-old youth — a primary witness to his mother’s rape — was allegedly burnt to death, Nawada superintendent of police Sunder Lal Das termed the deceased insane and issued his mother a bad character certificate.

Eight persons, including four relatives of Chintu Kumar, allegedly set him on fire on Sunday afternoon after locking him up in a room at his house at Gari Bigha village under Narhat police station of Nawada district, around 125km off the state capital.

Das, however, said investigations into the case revealed that the deceased, Chintu Kumar, was insane and set himself on fire. The SP did not have any medical certificate in his possession to prove his point, though.

“I do not have any medical certificate to prove Chintu was insane. But the police conducted detailed investigations into the case and found Chintu’s mother used to keep him under lock and key for the past six months as he was mentally unstable. He was violent by nature and used to harm himself too. On Sunday afternoon, he spotted a kerosene can in his room. He poured the fuel on himself and set himself on fire. The police did not find any trace of people forcibly entering the house,” the officer said.

Chintu’s mother was allegedly gangraped in 2006 by her three brothers-in-law and one of their sons.

She claimed in the FIR lodged in connection with the alleged murder of Chintu that the four persons who raped her set her son on fire.

The superintendent of police said: “An FIR has been lodged in this case and the accused are absconding. Investigations into the case are on but this too seems to be a false case.”

Das also said: “The woman (Chintu’s mother) is of bad character. Her husband mysteriously vanished a long time ago. Around four years back, her daughter set herself on fire because she could not stand the former. When the family members of the woman asked her to mend her ways, she lodged a rape case against four persons. The police conducted a detailed investigation and found all the charges were false. The accused were set free. But this woman used to file protest petitions in the court time and again. There were talks about a court hearing this month in which the deceased was a witness. But the court never took cognisance of the case.”

The medical and chara- cter certificates issued by Das sparked debate in his own department if officers were entitled to do so.

The director-general of police, Bihar, Abhayanand was not available for comments, but the deputy director-general of police, Magadh range, N.H. Khan, said: “Such statements should not be issued.”