15-year-old boy commits suicide at Birbhum police station

A 15-year-old boy, who police claimed was detained in connection with theft cases, was found dead inside the toilet of a police station in Mallarpur of Birbhum. The boy’s death triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and the TMC on Friday. While the BJP alleged that the boy was assaulted “at the behest of TMC” because his parents are BJP supporters, the TMC denied the allegations.  

A 15-year-old boy, who police claimed was detained in connection with theft cases, was found dead inside the toilet of a police station in Mallarpur of Birbhum. The boy’s family members had initially alleged that he was beaten to death but did not file any complaint in this regard.

The BJP supporters alleged that the deceased, who belonged to a family that supported the BJP party, was beaten to death in the police lock-up. The agitators hurled stones at policemen and blocked roads. 

The party also has called a 12-hour bandh in the area on Saturday (October 31).

Police claimed, “Primary investigation indicates that the boy hanged himself in the toilet of the police station. The postmortem report was awaited and would ascertain the cause of death.”

The boy’s death triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and the TMC on Friday. While the BJP alleged that the boy was assaulted “at the behest of TMC” because his parents are BJP supporters, the TMC denied the allegations. TMC’s Birbhum unit chief Anubrata Mondal also issued a statement that the boy’s parents were not BJP supporters.

A few hours later, the boy’s family also claimed that he died by suicide and has also claimed that they support TMC and not BJP.

Police submitted an application in the court for a magisterial probe and a post-mortem by a medical panel following guidelines laid down by National Human Rights Commission. The body was cremated after post-mortem on Friday (October 30).