Ranchi: Deputy commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray on Monday ordered magisterial and judicial inquiries into the alleged suicide of a 25-year-old man at Jagannathpur thana lock-up on Sunday afternoon.
The directive followed an autopsy at state-run RIMS in the presence of a four-member medical board and amid a two-hour blockade at Hesag Chowk on Ranchi-Khunti road with the body.
"In the interest of justice, I have ordered both magisterial and judicial probe into the death of Sunil Kachhap," Rai kept it brief when this newspaper contacted him.
Kachhap, arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife, reportedly banged his head on the wall of the lock-up till he collapsed. He was declared brought dead at RIMS. It is not clear why no one among the seven policemen present at the thana tried to stop him from harming himself.
A magisterial inquiry is conducted by an executive magistrate. It is akin to a departmental enquiry, the report of which needs to be submitted to the government, in this case the deputy commissioner. It is an internal mechanism and the government may or may not come out with an action taken report.
A judicial inquiry, on the other hand, is conducted by a fact-finding commission comprising one or more judicial officers. Though it is not a court of law and cannot give a binding verdict, it is without the trappings and red-tapism of an administrative organ.
The report must be submitted to the judicial commissioner (of Ranchi district in this case). A copy of the inquiry is also given to the National Human Rights Commission.
At Hesag Chowk, friends and relatives of Kachhap, who was a resident of Hatia, staged a demonstration from noon, demanding action against policemen for "dereliction of duty" and compensation for bereaved family members.
"Police picked up my son on June 15 after his wife, Sumi Devi, sustained head injuries and claimed he attacked her. Sunil (Kachhap) was in the lock-up for two days. Why would he suddenly kill himself?" asked father Madhu Kachhap.
City SP Aman Kumar said Kachhap was detained on June 15 based on the complaint of his wife, but was arrested on Sunday after mutual settlement failed and an FIR had to be lodged.
Sumi Devi and her three children - a daughter aged seven and sons aged five and three - were also among the protesters. Sumi's mother Guindi Kujur echoed Kachhap's father.
"It should be a matter of concern if a person is not safe in police custody. My daughter knocked on police door for help and police made her a widow," Kujur said.
