Man accused of raping minor dies in UP jail; family alleges assault by prison staff

Agra: A 25-year-old prisoner died at Muzaffarnagar district jail after his health allegedly deteriorated and he lost consciousness. Jail authorities said he had been receiving treatment at the prison hospital since Wednesday for stomach pain.

However, family members alleged that he died due to severe assault by jail staff.The man had been lodged in jail for over a month after being arrested in a case related to the alleged abduction and rape of his minor sister-in-law. According to the deceased’s father, he was being assaulted in jail for refusing to pay bribes for routine procedures.“During a visit on Thursday, my son complained of repeated beatings and said that he was being subjected to severe mental and physical harassment, including third-degree torture.

He looked terrified and feared his life was in danger,” he said, adding that jail staff had extorted money in the name of exempting his son from voluntary work.On Friday, he first received a call around 6.54am from a jail police officer summoning him to the hospital. “About an hour later, I received another phone call from a person identifying himself as the deputy jailer, who told me that my son had died,” he said.The family staged a protest at the district hospital, demanding registration of an FIR against jail staff for torture and negligence in timely and adequate medical treatment.

Jail authorities denied the allegations, stating that the prisoner was receiving proper medical care. “All the allegations made by the family are baseless. The postmortem report will clarify the situation,” said Muzaffarnagar jailer Neeraj Srivastava.Police confirmed the deceased had been lodged in jail since last Saturday after surrendering before court in a case registered under section 137(2) (kidnapping) of BNS and sections 3/4 of Pocso Act. SHO Satish Kumar told TOI he had been accused of abducting and raping his 16-year-old sister-in-law. “He was on the run with the girl for two months. When she became pregnant, rape charges were added to the FIR,” he said.