Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that Somnath Suryavanshi was murdered because he was a Dalit. Suryavanshi, who was arrested in connection with riots that took place after a replica of the Constitution was allegedly desecrated by a mentally ill man, died when he was in judicial custody.
After meeting the family members of Suryavanshi in Parbhani, Gandhi demanded action against the police officers responsible for his death. “They (family) showed me the post-mortem report, videos, photographs. This is 100 per cent a custodial death. He has been murdered,” he said.
The Opposition alleged that he died due to police brutality. Gandhi criticised the Maharashtra government for its handling of the case and demanded that the guilty police officers be punished. On December 15, Somnath Suryawanshi, a law student, died in custody. The interim postmortem report attributed the immediate cause of death as “shock following multiple injuries”. However, last week Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the state Assembly that Suryavanshi had told a magistrate that he was not tortured in police custody and the CCTV footage from the lock up also doesn’t show any evidence of brutality. Fadnavis also said that Suryavanshi had old respiratory problems and internal injuries like fractures. The Maharashtra government has announced Rs 10 lakh financial aid for Suryavanshi’s family.
However, Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra Chief Minister had lied in the Assembly. “This young man was killed because he was a Dalit and was protecting the Constitution. The ideology of the RSS is to destroy the Constitution. We want this matter to be resolved immediately and those who have done this should be punished. No politics is being done,” he said.
Hitting back at Gandhi, Fadnavis said the Congress leader’s visit was only for a political purpose and he tried to create hatred among people on caste lines. “This was just a political meeting, an attempt to create hatred among people on caste lines. He (Rahul Gandhi) has been doing this for many years. He has completed his work of spreading hatred today in Parbhani,” the Maharashtra Chief Minister said.
