Nearly a month after a 24-year-old Staff Selection Commission (SSC) aspirant allegedly committed suicide in north-west Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, his Meerut-based family is still running from pillar to post seeking justice. A woman had allegedly threatened to frame Prateek in a false rape case here.
Accusing the Delhi Police of inaction, the family registered a complaint with the Meerut police on Tuesday. The Meerut police has contacted its Delhi counterpart in connection with the case, said his father Rajkumar Singh. When he asked a policeman to take action in the case, Mr. Singh claimed he was told that “people commit suicide daily blaming celebrities and politicians but that does not mean every politician or celebrity is arrested”.
Prateek was found hanging in his room in Mukherjee Nagar on April 17. The body was discovered by his roommate. The police were informed and the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem.
“A policeman came to the room where my son was found hanging and confiscated his mobile phone for investigation. Four days later, the phone was given to a relative who stay in Delhi since we had all gone back to Meerut to perform Prateek’s last rites,” said Mr. Singh.
Video on phone
The relative was scanning the mobile phone when he found a video shot by the victim in the gallery folder moments before he committed suicide.
“He had recorded the video at 4.39 p.m. on April 17. He was found dead at 4.50 p.m. the same day. He has named a woman and her accomplices saying they were threatening to implicate him in a false case and were also extorting money from him,” added Mr. Singh.
He said Prateek was only educated person in the family and therefore all accounts are managed by him. After going through his passbook, the family found that he had withdrawn nearly ₹1.5 lakh over the past few months.
“The woman and her accomplice belong to the same village in Meerut. She works at a spa while her accomplice also works in Delhi. Prateek knew them since the past several years as we all live in the same village. They had all moved to Delhi in the recent years. She met my son in Delhi and asked him for financial help. When he asked her to return the money, she threatened to implicate him in a false rape case. Then, she started extorting money from him with the help of her accomplice,” claimed Mr. Singh.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan said an inquiry has been ordered.
“We have ordered an inquiry in the case. We have received the video and other evidence from the family. We have initiated an inquiry against the policeman who returned the phone without scanning the data. We will take action as per the findings of the report,” she said.
