Hisar: Man ends life after three days of ‘police torture’, family refuses to take body

HISAR: A Bhiwani village resident, who consumed poison after three days of “police torture” over the disappearance of his elder brother and a girl 4 months back, died in a Hisar hospital on Thursday evening. The family of the dead man, identified as 23-year-old Banti alias Bittu of Barsi Jatan village, has refused to take away his body from the hospital until the police personnel who allegedly tortured him are arrested.
A case (FIR No.261) was registered at Bawani Khera police station in Bhiwani on Friday on the complaint of Vikash, a cousin of Banti, against sub-inspector Jagbir, ASI Rajbir, woman cop Seema and two other police personnel under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Vikash has alleged in his police complaint that his uncle Surendra’s elder son Azad Singh had taken a young girl with him around 4 months ago, but his family had no information about their whereabouts. He further alleged that 5 police personnel had picked up Azad Singh’s younger brother Bittu alias Banti for three days and tortured him to reveal his brother’s location following a complaint by the girl’s relatives.
“Inspector Jagbir, ASI Rajbir, woman police official Seema and two others took away Bittu from his house on Wednesday. At around 7:30pm, Bittu came home crying and said the five cops had tortured him and asked him to either commit suicide or they would torture him every day,” he said.
Vikash said this was not the first time that the cops had tortured Bittu, but he hadn’t told his family about it. He consumed poison soon after this and was taken to a private hospital at Hisar in critical condition, and subsequently died. Bittu’s family has alleged that unable to tolerate the police torture, he ended his life by consuming a poisonous substance.
When contacted, Bhiwani SP Ganga Ram Punia said that police have registered a case following the complaint by Bittu’s kin. He also said that police are investigating the matter and would act against the cops if they find evidence of torture.
Police are trying to convince the family to take away the body.