POSTED ON APRIL 2, 2020


A Dalit youth committed suicide on Wednesday after he was allegedly beaten up by the Uttar Pradesh police for breaking #quarantine rule

As the total number of the people tested positive for Corona in Uttar Pradesh (UP) rose to 335, in first such case all over the country, a Dalit youth committed suicide on Wednesday after he was allegedly beaten up by the UP police for allegedly breaking quarantine rule.

A resident of Fariya Pipariya village which falls in Lakhimpur district, the Dalit youth, Roshan Lal worked as a daily wage worker in Gurugam.

He had returned to his village on Sunday, March 29, six days after the Modi government announced nation wide lockdown. Since then he was living in the school of the village after the local administration had put him in quarantine.

In a recorded audio clip, which Roshan Lal forwarded to his friend and family members on WhatsApp minutes before he committed suicide, he can be heard screaming and narrating the story of torture and humiliation in a very feeble voice.

“Friends, if someone does not believe then take off my pants and see. You will not find anything but blood-clotting all over my back. I am going to commit suicide after this as I do not want to live anymore. My hand has been broken. What will I do now in my life?” says the Dalit youth in the recorded clip.

“I want to tell you, if after my death someone says that I was tested Covid-19 positive, that is wrong. I was tested negative and I have the result also. I want to end my life. But I want that action must be taken against Anoop Kumar Singh. Anoop Kumar has done grave injustice. I am feeling very helpless…,” adds Roshan Lal.

Coronavirus: Dalit youth kills self after being tortured by Uttar Pradesh police for breaking quarantine rule

Roshan Lal recorded three audio messages minutes before he embraced death, claimed his family.

In another audio-clip he can be heard saying, “Despite this, nobody came forward to help me that is why I am taking this extreme step.”

Expressing his last wish Roshan Lal said, “I have a saving of Rs 80 thousand in PNB bank, that should be given to my mother. There is another saving of Rs 20 thousand in Allahabad Bank, that too be given to my mother.”

Referring to the contractor under which Roshan Lal worked in Gurgaon, he said in the recorded message that “the contractor owes me Rs 25 thousand, that also should be given to my mother”.

Saying that “strictest action must be taken against Anoop Kumar Singh”, Roshan Lal says, “He has beaten me mercilessly…you will not find anything but blood clotting on all over my back. I am committing suicide because of this only.”

In another 1.41-second audio clip, Roshan Lal can be heard introducing himself, before he took the extreme step.

“Hello Namaskar friends, my name is Roshan Lal. I am very upset today. My only fault is that I have stepped out (of the school where he was put in quarantine) to get flour because we did not have anything at my home to eat. A policeman named Anoop Singh has thrashed me so badly that my right hand has stopped working. Perhaps, it is broken now. Don’t ask how helpless I am feeling right now.”

After Roshan Lal committed suicide, his family members tried to lodge an FIR against constable Anoop Kumar, but the UP police refused. Roshan Lal’s family has demanded action against constable Anoop Singh.

This is the fourth case of suicide due to the scare and panic caused by the Corona outbreak and ensuing lockdown.

A young man had committed suicide on Tuesday in Kanpur by hanging himself because he feared that he was suffering from Coronavirus.

In two separate incidents, two youths had committed suicide in Hapur and Bareilly over the weekend because they believed that they were suffering from the deadly virus

ANI