17 yrs after woman police informer’s ‘custodial’ death, Maharashtra family continues to fight for justice

But erstwhile the SPP went to the Ahmednagar tribunal for a proceeding connected November 19, helium recovered that determination wasn’t a azygous policeman from the state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) – the portion probing the lawsuit — determination to assistance him.

On their part, some territory constabulary and the CID assertion that the activistic died by termination aft consuming poison – though the second maintains that it was custodial ‘torture’ that prompted her to instrumentality that action. But Suman’s household refutes the claim, saying they were present warring successful 2 fronts – a ineligible conflict against the cops accused of causing her decease and the “apathy” of the CID, which they assertion is delaying proceedings successful the case.

Once considered hunter-gatherers, the Pardhi tribe, to which Suman and her household belonged, had been notified arsenic a ‘criminal tribe’ nether the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 nether assemblage rule. In 1949, the authorities of the recently autarkic India repealed the CTA and successful 1952, denotified respective ‘criminal tribes’, including the Pardhis, but the stigma stuck, with the assemblage being among the astir marginalised successful the country.

Suman Ganjan Kale’s son, Saheba, holds up photos of the ‘Atmasamarpan Melava,’ successful which Suman is seen being felicitated by constabulary officers. (Express photograph by Chandan Haygunde)

Back successful his greying two-room house, Suman’s member Girish Chavan holds up an aged photograph of Suman being felicitated by a elder constabulary officer. The photograph is already fading, with parts of it, including fractional of Suman’s face, peeling and discoloured.

The photograph is from an ‘Atmasamarpan Melava’ – oregon a surrender rally – Chavan tells The Indian Express. Keen connected helping the people shed its ‘criminal tag’, Suman had helped respective from the people “give up” their beingness of transgression and surrender earlier the police, adjacent earning accolades for her work.

“She felt atrocious erstwhile guiltless radical were picked up by the constabulary and started helping cops apprehension lone those who were really progressive successful crimes. This is however she became a constabulary informer,” says Chavan.

What happened that day

According to Saheba, his parent was picked up connected the greeting of May 12, 2007. She kept asking what she had done wrong, helium says.

When helium went to the section SP bureau the adjacent day, helium allegedly recovered that his parent had been detained successful transportation with a dacoity case.

“I came to cognize that constabulary detained my parent illegally connected the ground of a mendacious connection fixed by a pistillate (they identified as) Astari Chavan, arrested successful a dacoity case… Soon, we were told she had taken poison and was admitted to a backstage hospital,” Saheba, a farmer, says.

On May 16 – 4 days aft Suman was archetypal picked up – the household was informed of her death.

“The cops thrashed her truthful severely that she died…My parent was not a transgression and ever encouraged radical to travel the law,” helium says.

But the constabulary springiness a antithetic relationship of events. According to their version, mentioned successful tribunal documents, Suman had travel into the territory SP’s bureau with her nephew connected May 14 – 2 days aft she was allegedly picked up – claiming she had taken “lice pesticide”. To enactment their claim, the constabulary cited harassment complaints that she had filed against her husband.

But a ineligible enquiry conducted by past sub-divisional magistrate Vikas Pansare rejected this version. Citing forensic and post-mortem records, Pansare’s enquiry study from January 8, 2008 – accessed by The Indian Express – claims that Astari was “made to sanction Suman Kale successful the jewellery dacoity case” by policemen. It besides says that Suman had been “inflicted with aggregate wounds astatine the hands of police” betwixt May 13 and 14, 2007, successful the “illegal custody of the superintendent of constabulary and his peculiar probe team.”

Days later, the CID began to analyse the case, and successful August 14, 2009 — implicit 2 years aft Suman’s decease — booked 7 policemen and a backstage doc nether IPC sections for abetment of suicide, causing grievous wounded to extract confession and wrongful confinement) among others.

All 8 were arrested successful December 2010 but were yet released connected bail.

In the chargesheet filed by the CID successful September 2013, the bureau claimed that the territory constabulary picked up Suman from her location connected May 12, 2007, and allegedly tortured her to get her to confess that she possessed stolen golden and that, incapable to instrumentality the constabulary treatment, she yet consumed poison.

The CID besides claimed that successful bid to screen up the death, the territory constabulary took her to a backstage infirmary alternatively of authorities 1 and named the doc who ran the infirmary arsenic an accused.

However, Suman’s household refutes the CID’s case, claiming that nary poison was detected successful a chemic analyser’s study dated September 9, 2007. “If poison was not detected, past however tin it beryllium a lawsuit of termination by poisoning? Clearly, the CID’s probe was wrong,” Chavan says.

In January 2021, the Aurangabad Bench directed the proceedings tribunal to see the grounds for the offences punishable for murder, destroying grounds and transgression conspiracy astatine the clip of framing charges. It besides said that the proceedings tribunal “is expected to determine the lawsuit wrong six months”.

Another photograph from the ‘Atmasamarpan Melava,’ shows Suman with constabulary officers. (Special arrangement)

The bid came connected the backmost of a petition by the household asking for the lawsuit to beryllium transferred to the CBI and execution charges to beryllium invoked against the accused.

On February 15, 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) filed by immoderate accused for quashing the HC order. However, the biggest stroke to the lawsuit came successful April 2023, erstwhile the HC discharged the accused backstage doctor.

This bid came lone months aft the proceedings tribunal had rejected a akin exertion from him. “And the CID did not adjacent pass america (that helium was discharged). The CID did not entreaty against it successful the SC. This is highly suspicious,” Chavan says.

According to Girish Prabhune, a societal activistic from the Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Parishad and a 2021 Padma Shri awardee, the CID “never took the lawsuit seriously”. Prabhune is among those calling for justness successful the case.

When asked, CID main Prashant Burde told The Indian Express that helium would “have to check” and that helium didn’t person accusation connected the lawsuit “off-hand”.

Meanwhile, unhappy with the case’s advancement successful courts, Girish sought the assistance of Vivek Vichar Manch, an outfit that focuses connected quality rights. He besides demanded a Special Public Prosecutor for this case.

The petition came done past month, erstwhile an SPP was appointed.

“Those liable for Suman’s decease are nether the content that Pardhis cannot combat for justice. We privation to beryllium them wrong. Which is wherefore it’s important that Suman gets justice, truthful that Pardhis arsenic a assemblage person much religion successful the ineligible system.”