A 25-year-old man lost his life in police custody after he was allegedly beaten up by a mob of people in Daftary Road in Malad East, where he was allegedly caught molesting a girl. The crime branch unit 12 has launched an inquiry into the matter.
The incident occurred at around 11:30am on Friday when a 11-year-old girl who lived in the neighbourhood was on her way home from her tuition classes. She was accompanied by her mother and a friend. The man, Ranjit Singh, a construction labourer, on seeing the girl, pounced on her and started misbehaving with her. He allegedly tried to drag her to a corner.
Brijesh Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police from North Region, said, "The girl and her mother started screaming, after which a mob of 20 to 25 people gathered. He was manhandled and beaten up badly by the mob, after which he was taken to the Dindoshi police station by the mob."
According to the Dindoshi police, as soon as Singh was brought in, he was rushed to a nearby government hospital as he was bleeding from his mouth and had sustained few abrasions. "He did not have too many external injuries. After he was taken to the hospital, he was treated for his bruises, after which he was discharged," said Jaywant Mane, senior PI of Dindoshi police.
After Singh was brought back to Dindoshi police at around 2pm, he was arrested under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty), 363 (kidnapping) and other relevant sections under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
According to the Dindoshi police, the man was not kept inside the lock up and was seated in the station house with officers. "After a few hours, Singh started feeling restless and started complaining of dizziness. We immediately rushed him to the hospital where he was declared dead before arrival at around 7:15pm. His body has been sent to J J hospital for postmortem to find out the exact cause of death," added Singh. The Dindoshi police has registered a case against the mob for rioting and culpable homicide and is yet to make arrests.
Although police claim that his death is due to internal injuries, the Crime Branch Unit 12 which has been handed over the inquiry is awaiting postmortem reports to ascertain the exact cause of death. "We are probing if there is any foul play. Although it looks like the death was caused by the injuries he sustained in the morning, we are also investigating if he was manhandled in the station. We will come to a conclusion after we get the post mortem reports," said an officer from Crime Branch Unit 12.
The deceased is a drug addict and lived alone near the Malad police station.
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