UP man camps in Thane to uncover truth behind son’s hanging at railway bridge after police haul 16-year-old to police station and question him about alleged affair without guardian or NGO present
Birendra Chauhan shows a photo of his deceased son. Pics/Hanif Patel
A 16-year-old boy recently took his own life weeks after he was questioned by an officer at Navghar police station in Bhayander about his relationship with an adult woman. Days after the questioning, the woman’s relatives took her away on November 30 last year. The next day, the minor boy was found hanging near Bhayander creek. The boy’s father has since been running from pillar to post to unravel what happened at the police station. He alleged that the cops questioned the minor without the presence of his parents or an NGO, which is in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The deceased boy, a native of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, lived in Vasai and had visited his hometown during Dussehra. During his 15-day stay there, he met the woman and the duo fell in love. Both their families were aware of their relationship and had promised to marry them off when both were of eligible age. After the boy returned to Vasai, the woman ran away from her home and came to live with the minor, said Birendra Chauhan, father of the deceased. While the girl’s family in Ghazipur filed a missing complaint with the local police, Chauhan claimed that the woman’s sister, who lives in Bhayander, approached Navghar police and asked them to question the couple.
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Birendra Chauhan shows the death certificate of his minor son
“The girl’s sister lives in Bhayandar. She approached Navghar police station in November and informed police that her sister was in a live-in relationship with my son in Vasai. I learnt that my son was called at Navghar police station where Assistant Inspector Ganesh Kekan questioned him and recorded his statement,” said Chauhan. He added that the cop was allegedly in uniform, which is also in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The father, who had last spoken to his son on November 21, added, “After this, he moved from Vasai West to Vasai East on November 17. His neighbours in the building told me that he was living with the woman at least till November 25.” Meanwhile, the woman’s relatives arrived in Vasai and took her away on November 30.
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“On December 1, I received a call from an officer from Vasai GRP who told me that my son was found hanging and asked me to reach Vasai immediately. I was in Ghazipur at the time, and arrived in Mumbai on December 4. Since that day, I have been trying to learn what led my son to kill himself, but nobody is telling me any details,” Chauhan said, adding that the cops at the police station told him the officer concerned was on leave.
The minor with the woman he was living with
Chauhan, who has been camping at Thane since December 4, added, “If Navghar police had called him for questioning, the police should have informed me. I would have done the needful and taken care of my son and consoled him somehow.” mid-day has learnt that Chauhan has filed an RTI query seeking the CCTV footage of Navghar police station of November last year to understand what happened during questioning.
Cops say couple fought
When contacted, API Kekan said that the couple had approached Navghar police station as “an infighting was going on between them”. He told mid-day, “As the girl’s sister lives in Bhayander, the couple came here [Navghar police station] when infighting started between them. Since the woman looked underage, I had called her sister who told me that the woman was an adult and that she had run away from home.” “When I talked to the boy, he told me to get them married. I told him to discuss the same with their parents. After this, they left and I did not keep track of them,” he said.
No suicide note
Vasai Government Railway Police, after recovering the minor’s body, registered an accidental death report. Investigating officer Dilip Padwal said, “The sister of the woman told us that the duo had planned to die by suicide. Before executing their plan to commit suicide, the couple had visited Navghar police station where an API Kekan had recorded their statements. The statement of the woman’s sister was also recorded there. Thereafter, the girl was taken by her relatives to her hometown on November 30 and next day, the boy committed suicide.”
“No suicide note was recovered from his possession. We have recovered his cellphone from the pocket and informed his father,” he added. He said, “The boy’s father alleged that the minor was killed, but the CCTV footage shows the boy walking towards Bhayander Creek alone.” Vasai GRP officers also recorded the statement of API Kekan in connection with the case on Tuesday.
JJ Act violation
Abha Singh, a senior lawyer at the Supreme Court, said, “How can an officer in uniform question a minor boy at a police station? The minor, who did not commit any serious offence, should have been brought to the Juvenile Justice Board instead of the police station. Why did the police not inform the minor’s parents or any NGO to handle the situation? It’s a clear violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.”
“The cops must have been bribed to take away the girl, an adult who had willingly decided to live with the minor boy. Not just police, even lawyers are asked to talk to juveniles in plain clothes. How did a cop in uniform question the minor at the police station? This is a case of police’s high-handedness. The Commissioner of Police must issue a show-cause notice to know what exactly happened at the police station,” she added.
30 Nov
Day when the woman’s family took her away
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