Man brings dead foetus in court, claims attempts to kill him

BHOPAL/JABALPUR: As he brought out a dead foetus wrapped in a plastic bag and tried placing it on the exhibit desk before the single-judge Jabalpur bench of MP high court on Monday, some policemen pounced on him and took him in custody.

As he was being dragged away, the man, identified as Daya Shankar Pandey of Rewa, shouted at the bench that the foetus of his unborn child, who died because of a miscarriage in a road accident, which he claimed was planned to kill him while he was driving his wife to a hospital.

He pleaded with the single judge, Justice Himanshu Joshi, that he be given security cover or granted ‘euthanasia', alleging that the police refused to act on his complaints.

In a significant development, Jabalpur S Sampat Upadhyay suspended four policemen in connection with the case on Tuesday.

Dramatic events unfolded in the courtroom after Pandey arrived for a hearing on his plea, seeking grant of security or euthanasia alleging that he was the target of repeated attempts on his life in the garb of an accident. Pandey, who contested and lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Rewa, said the latest bid on his life on March 1 killed his unborn child after his wife suffered a miscarriage.

Speaking to TOI, Pandey, who was released by the police on the direction of Justice Joshi, said his wife had to go in for an emergency abortion on March 7 after she suffered a miscarriage in the accident.

Claiming that the series of attempts on his life started from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls itself, Pandey said he was attacked and his car was set on fire on April 19, 2024. Then again, on May 9, 2025, he said he was attacked again, adding that it was given the appearance of a road accident. On November 6, 2025, a third attempt on his life was made at Sharda Chowk in Jabalpur, Pandey said, adding that he narrowly escaped the car that attempted to crush him and sustained minor wounds while his second daughter also received injuries.

He claimed he was attacked again in Rewa on March 1, adding that his wife was critically injured and had to abort her foetus during treatment.

He said he brought the dead foetus to draw the court's attention to his plight, claiming he had lodged multiple complaints with the police, other officials and politicians, seeking urgent action. However, he said his pleas fell on deaf ears, forcing him to move court. Claiming he and his loved ones were under threat, Pandey told TOI, "The judge directed the Civil Lines police to record my statement and let me go. The next hearing on my plea has been scheduled for March 11. I am hopeful of justice."