A 28-year-old man, who was lodged in Lalitpur district jail on the charges of raping a minor girl, allegedly committed suicide. Alleging that he was falsely named in the rape case, the wife of the accused said he was depressed and had told her that he would rather end his life than live with the ignominy of being termed a rape accused.
Surprisingly, the brother of the accused was also arrested on rape charges made by the same girl’s sister-in-law three years back and he had also ended life, alleging that the girl’s kin were trying to blackmail him and his family following “fabricated charges.”
Senior police officers who visited the jail on Friday have asked for a magisterial probe into the case.
The SHO of Pali police station, who was probing the rape charges, was also accused of rape by the girl of raping her. He was suspended and arrested. He was also lodged in the same jail.
Jail superintendent of Lalitpur Lal Ratnakar said on Friday, “28-year-old Rajbhan Ahirwar of Kasba Pali was lodged in the district jail in April last year in connection with kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl. Around 6:40 am on Friday when all the prisoners were being taken to the ground, Rajbhan hanged himself from the railing of stairs leading to the terrace near barrack number 2b. He was found hanging with a muffler tied around his neck.”
Ratnakar said they immediately called the doctor but the accused had dead by then. Senior officers of the district, along with the local police station incharge, reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy. His family members were also informed about the incident.
Rajbhan’s mother Ramrani said he had applied for a bail and the hearing was scheduled for next week. She claimed that half-a-dozen people, including her son, were accused of rape and one of them had moved high court for bail, but the plea was turned down. “My son was depressed thinking that he will also not get bail. My son was upset due to being framed in the case. My elder son Jagannath was also accused of rape by the sister-in-law of the same girl and he had also ended his life three years back,” the bereaved mother said.
Rajbhan’s wife Babita said, “I am left with a son and a daughter. How will I tell them how their father died? My husband was falsely accused and money was also demanded from him in the jail. When I met him in the jail on Saturday last, he had asked for Rs 50,000 and said the money had to be given in jail,” she alleged.
However, she said she was unaware if the money was demanded by some jail official or by the girl’s family.
On April 22, 2022, a woman had claimed that four boys lured her minor daughter into accompanying them to Bhopal on some pretext and all of them raped her for three days. They then left the girl in Pali on April 25 and fled the scene. It was alleged that when the girl reached the Pali police station to lodge a complaint, the then police station incharge raped her after taking her to a room. The inspector in question was suspended and then arrested.