VIRUDHUNAGAR
In a shocking incident, a few youths had reportedly videographed their friend, Mohan Gandhi (18), struggling to come out of water in a farm well near here and ultimately drowning in September.
Still worse was the fact that Virudhunagar district police failed to take any concrete action on a complaint lodged by Kanagaraj, father of Mohan Gandhi, after he stumbled upon the video clip in his son’s mobile phone.
After frequently visiting Soolakkarai police station for a few weeks in vain, Mr. Kangaraj on Monday approached the Collectorate.
He showed the video clip to District Revenue Officer C. Muthukumaran during the weekly grievance meeting. “The DRO told me what he saw in the video. I have written to the Superintendent of Police to take action on the complaint,” Collector A. Sivagnanam told The Hindu .
The video clip shows Mohan Gandhi struggling to get back on his feet to climb up the steps in the well, but in vain. He is seen throwing up and struggling.
Mr. Kanagaraj said his son was forced to consume liquor and allowed to bath in the well alone while five of his friends did not get into the water.
“He had been regularly swimming in the same well. Had he been sober, he could have come out,” he said. Mohan Gandhi was pursuing Computer Science at a college in Coimbatore and had come home for Puja holidays.
The video was shot in his mobile. “It was shot at 1.44 p.m. on September 29. The video was sent from by son’s phone to a number through WhatsApp at 1.46 p.m.,” Mr. Kanagaraj said. In between, Mr. Kanagaraj claimed, he called his son on his mobile phone but no one attended the call.
Raising suspicion that the other boys who were also drunk had “deliberately” allowed his son to drown with some “motive”, Mr. Kanagaraj said he wanted the police to probe.
“The boys did not even seek the help of a few people who were in the vicinity to rescue my son,” he complained.
“As Soolakkarai police did not act, I submitted a petition to Superintendent of Police M. Rajarajan on November 10. The Virudhunagar DSP conducted an inquiry with the boys, who admitted to have drunk and shot the video. But, no action has been taken so far,” Mr. Kanagaraj said.
The police claimed that they would act on getting the post-mortem report, he said.
