Police file reply before NHRC in suicide case

Nagpur: The city police submitted its reply before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Delhi in the suicide case of gym trainer James Joseph, alias Prakash Jhakhar, on Tuesday. Though Zonal DCP Krishnakant Upadhyay was summoned by the commission under the Protection of Human Rights (PHR) Act, it’s reliably learnt he did not appear in person.
The NHRC had summoned DCP zone 5, along with a detailed report including the post-mortem, following an online complaint filed by RTI activist Ankita Shah. She claimed gross negligence in the probe by Jaripatka police into the suicide case of James who had been thrashed by constable Ajay Madavi at the instance of his woman colleague Bridgette Joseph at the victim’s workplace.
Madavi had thrashed James on April 24 last year and also the following day, a few hours before the gym trainer decided to end life at his rented apartment at Martin Nagar. Jaripatka police had registered an offence against Madavi, Bridgette and her mother Jyoti but did not arrest anyone.
James’ mobile phone was allegedly taken away by Jyoti and has still not been recovered. A departmental inquiry is now being conducted by ACP (administration) Reena Janbandhu but it is not clear if any deadline has been set for her.
Shah, who was present at the NHRC for hearing, said the cops have submitted a fresh reply in Marathi after their earlier report by the ACP of Jaripatka police station was severely criticized by the commission. “I did not see the DCP appearing in person which the commission had warranted under a provision of the PHR Act,” she said.