Army whistleblower: Decomposed body of Kerala soldier hints at foul play
- Roy Mathew's decomposed body was found hanging from the ceiling in an abandoned barrack of the Deolali Cantonment.
- He criticised the 'sahayak' (orderly) system on the sting operation video shot using a hidden camera that went viral.
- Mathew was missing from February 25, a day after the sting operation video was aired.
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Roy Mathew, a 33-year-old gunner in the Indian Army, was found dead under mysterious conditions at the Deolali Army Cantonment near Nashik on March 2.
Last month the Lance Naik Roy Mathew, a native of Karuvelil in Kollam district, inadvertently revealed the harassment prevalent in the camp on a sting operation by an online newspaper. He criticised the 'sahayak' (orderly) system on the video that also showed jawans taking their senior’s children to school and walking their pet dogs.
Shot by using a hidden camera the video went viral after it was aired on February 24. The video drew criticism for following British-era sahayak system even now. Mathew was reportedly missing since 25 from the artillery unit, and also an inquiry was conducted against him after the video of the sting operation was made public, the Times Of India report quoted a source as saying.
“It is being probed if Mathew, who was attached for 'buddy duties' with a Colonel rank officer posted as an additional officer at the Artillery Centre in Deolali, had felt tortured or harassed after appearing in the video," the national daily quoted a police source as saying.
“He had come under huge pressure," the source added.
Mathew’s decomposed body was found hanging from the ceiling in an abandoned barrack of the Deolali Cantonment. The condition of the corpse suggests that he died around three days ago from the time his body was found.
His family is alleging foul play and demanding a probe into the mysterious death. According to a report, the commanding officer suggested that due to the decayed state of the body it would be difficult to transport the mortal remains of the jawan to his native place, but his family demanded that the body is handed over to them.
The same report also claimed that in his last conversation with his wife on February 25, the jawan revealed that he faced deep trouble after revealing the information on the sting operation.
