Extreme protests against Sunday's alleged suicide of a young undertrial at Birsa Munda Central Jail turned his Sukurhuttu home in Kanke, Ranchi, into a flashpoint on Monday as family members insisted Sagar Munda was a minor and his death called for a high-level inquiry.
Around 200 residents of Dahu Toli demonstrated on the main road, with Sagar's body on a charpoy, and refused to perform his last rites until the bereaved family was suitably compensated and responsibility fixed on Kanke police for "sending a 17-year-old to jail instead of a remand home".
Fearing a rerun of the vandalism on Sunday, when a 300-strong mob had damaged furniture and computers, and injured two officers, the district administration deployed 50 policemen inside and outside the thana while 100 personnel of State Industrial Security Force (SISF) marched into Dahu Toli to stop a proposed procession.
Rural SP Rajkumar Lakra, DSP (HQ-I) Mukesh Kumar, ADM (law and order) Vijay Shankar Prasad, Ranchi SDO Amit Kumar and BJP's Kanke MLA Jitu Charan Ram reached the spot around 10am to reason with villagers.
District officials announced an ex gratia of Rs 20,000 for Sagar's last rites of which Rs 5,000 was immediately paid. The ADM promised the remaining amount within three days. However, the mob refused to budge, prompting the forces to use lathis to quell the protest.
Rural SP Lakra said the list of demands included a monthly pension of Rs 600, separately to Sagar's father Rajbudi Pahan and mother Teejan Devi; a house for the family under Indira Awas Yojana; immediate compensation of Rs 2 lakh to be topped up with another Rs 3 lakh for keeping a minor in jail; BPL card to all family members (Sagar is survived by his parents and six siblings); and 35kg of food grains every month, besides a government job to a family member.
"The villagers insisted on full compensation and job by today (Monday). They also wanted us to stop proceedings against people who vandalised Kanke police station. A lathi-charge around 2.30pm brought the situation under control. We took custody of the body, which was taken to the residence of the deceased. Last rites took place under police and SISF supervision," Lakra added.
MLA Ram claimed that the administration had agreed in principle on the pension, house, BPL card and monthly ration demands.
"I have requested the state government to consider the demands for job and high-level inquiry," he said.
Sagar, 19 years old according to court records, was arrested on July 26 on abduction charges after he returned with a 13-year-old girl he had eloped with and the girl's father lodged an FIR against him and one of his elder brothers, Shailesh. Sagar was produced in a Ranchi court on July 27 and forwarded to Birsa jail while the girl was referred to a remand home.
One of Sagar's sisters-in-law, Soni Devi, on Monday claimed he was a minor. She produced a matriculation admit card, issued by Jharkhand Academic Council, that said the date of birth of Sagar Pahan (not Sagar Munda) is January 8, 1998. If both Sagars are the same, then he was 17 years, 6 months and 19 days old when he was sent to jail.
"Our Sagar was a minor who was in love with a local girl. His brother, Chhathu, also a minor, was detained by police at Kanke police station for three days till Sagar returned with the girl. We had told police he is a minor, but they took him to jail," said Soni Devi.
Rural SP Lakra refused to comment on the age controversy, claiming the matter was sub judice.
Kanke OC Ashutosh Narayan said police were not at fault. "As is procedure, the court must have sought to know the name and age of the accused. Sagar himself mentioned he was 19 years old. The family should have produced age proof in court at that time if he was a minor," he said, adding that the FIR lodged by the girl's father did not mention any age, but Sagar had told the investigating officer he was an adult.
