A man arrested on the charges of raping a 57-year -old woman committed suicide in police custody on Saturday under Tandwa police station in Chatra district of Jharkhand.
The officer-in-charge and a constable on the night duty have been removed and sent to the Police lines. According to police, Madhav Oraon (52), was arrested on the charge of raping a woman on Friday evening and was kept in the police lock up at Tandawa police station of Chatra about 160 km from state capital Ranchi. “He was found hanging from the ceiling of the lock up in early in the morning on Saturday. He hanged himself making a string out of the clothes he was wearing,” said Chatra SP Anup Birthare.
He had a criminal background and was in jail for killing his brother 12 years back, the SP added. “He was proved guilty by the villagers during a panchayat meeting and was absconding since then. Finally on Friday they caught hold of him and handed over the police,” added the SP. Meanwhile, the OC and the constable who was on night duty have been suspended and asked to report to the police lines.
The family members on the other hand are demanding to arrest Tandwa OC Pramod Ranjan immediately after lodging a case of murder against him. “After looking at the string allegedly used by the victim to hang himself one could easily say that even a child can break it, how such a weak string of clothe could withstand the weight of an adult…it could easily be broken by two hands,” claimed the family member. The body was sent to Chatra for the post-mortem.