An 18-year-old boy died four days after an alleged thrashing by a constable in Narela, prompting his family to blame the policeman for his death. Rajan Khatri was on a visit to a Ramlila fair in Narela around 11 p.m. on Wednesday when he was reported by an employee of a merry-go-round of trying to hand him a counterfeit currency note of 1000 denomination.
Rajan was subsequently led to a tent behind the merry-go-round for ‘questioning’ by Pramod, a constable deployed at the fair. Instead of being interrogated, he was allegedly beaten by the constable.
The first year ITI student died on Monday morning after repeated visits to several hospitals over the past four days, his family said. They alleged he had suffered internal injuries because of the ‘beating’ and had been vomiting blood since the assault.
“The accused constable has been suspended and a medical board would be constituted to conduct post-mortem of the deceased,” said Vikramjit Singh, DCP (Outer).
No case in this connection has been registered yet as the police said they would await the autopsy report before concluding if the boy was actually beaten or he died of some ‘illness’.
“The boy was suffering from diabetes and was insulin dependent. It is possible he died of very high level of blood sugar. The injuries on his body were superficial in nature and it is unlikely these could have caused his death,” claimed a senior police officer in defence of the constable.
Meanwhile, Rajan’s family members have produced a statement, purportedly written by the deceased to the Narela SHO a day after the alleged assault.
“The constable badly thrashed me despite I pleading that the currency note I carried was original,” read a portion of Rajan’s long statement in which he went on to seek punishment for the policeman.
He said that the policeman also snatched his mobile phone and remaining Rs. 1,500 from his wallet. By the time Rajan’s younger brother Hari was summoned to the spot, the victim was barely conscious.
“Rajan was lying on the floor and crying. Yet, the constable slapped him four times in front of me. He verbally abused us and threatened to implicate us in a fake currency case,” said Hari.
Hari and others finally dialled the police control room number upon which Rajan was rushed to Raja Harishchandra Hospital. He was rushed to several hospitals in the city till his death.
Hundreds of Narela residents landed at NH-1 with Rajan’s body and blocked the road in protest. A traffic jam building up on the road was broken after senior officers persuaded the crowd to disperse.
The boy was suffering from diabetes and was insulin dependent. It is possible he died of very high level of blood sugar
