Roy Mathew's death: Marks of beating on his body raises questions about Army's suicide claims

A fresh autopsy was ordered on the body of a jawan from Kerala, found dead after a sting video on the "abuse" of buddy system in the army, after his family insisted on it, raising doubts over this demise. The fresh post-mortem of Roy Mathew (33), a native of Karuvelil in Ezhukon in Kollam district, was underway at the Government Medical College Hospital here, hours after the body was brought to the city this morning by a flight, a senior police official said. Mathew was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in an abandoned barrack in Deolali cantonment in Maharashtra's Nashik on Thursday.

Alleging that there were marks of beating on his feet and blood had clotted in some parts, his relatives, including wife Finy, refused to accept the body until a fresh post-mortem was conducted in Kerala. Finy has filed a complaint with Kollam District Collector and the police raising suspicions over her husband's death, SP (Kollam Rural) S Surendran, told PTI. After receiving her complaint, the postmortem was ordered and it is going on, he said, adding that the Revenue Divisional Officer was also present.  A sobbing Finy, who was at the airport, said, "I need to get justice. I want to know how it happened. I want to see him."

The relatives have also alleged that disrespect was shown to the body when it was brought here. It was left unattended in a trolley for nearly half-an hour after it landed at the airport, they charged. Mathew had gone missing on February 25 after he purportedly figured in an expose by a news portal on the "abuse" in the orderly system in the army. Army has said it had not questioned Mathew after the video surfaced, which showed soldiers, working as sahayaks, walking dogs of senior army officials or taking their children to school.

Mathew had joined the army 13 years ago and was working as artillery gunner with the Rocket Regiment 214 in Nasik camp since the last one year. He had contacted his wife on February 25 after which he went missing. 

The Army jawan Roy Mathew who found dead on Friday, had last week reportedly called his wife saying he feared he may lose his job, reported Mid-Day. Mathew, who featured in a news portal's sting video on the Army's controversial 'buddy' or Sahayak system, was found dead in an abandoned barrack in Nashik district of Maharashtra. The report said that on February 25, Lance Naik Roy Mathew told his wife Fini saying, he had some problem related to his job and he feared that he may lose it. According to the jawan’s family, Roy was afraid after the sting aired on TV channels on February 23. Roy was also reportedly not aware of the hidden camera and had spoken to the journalist in good faith.

In the video, the deceased narrated the woes of soldiers required to walk dogs of officers and take their children to school as part of the Sahayak system. The army has appeared to blame the news portal for driving Roy to commit "suicide". "It is very likely that the guilt factor of letting down his superiors or conveying false impression to an unknown individual, led to take the extreme step." Police have registered a case of accidental death under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Roy's death comes at a time when the family was still recovering from the demise of their second son Jacob Mathew, who died of cancer two years ago. Meanwhile, Times of India reported that any mystery surrounding Mathew's death is likely to be resolved with the help of a diary found on him. Quoting sources, the report said that Roy claimed in his diary that the voice in the op video was not his.

"Better to die than face a court martial," Roy wrote in the diary in Malayalam, which is likely to be considered as a suicide note.

With inputs fro PTI