Sukanya Shantha 
Mumbai: Contrary to the findings in the preliminary post-mortem report, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday (December 20) claimed that 35-year-old law student Somnath Vyankat Suryawanshi died because of his “underlying health condition” and not due to custodial torture. The provisional post-mortem report had attributed the cause of death to “shock following multiple injuries”.
Fadnavis, however, responding to questions raised by Congress MLAs Nitin Raut and Nana Patole and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad, and several other Opposition leaders in the assembly earlier this week, denied any form of violence against Suryawanshi.
Fadnavis, reading from a note on the floor of assembly, said, “The first page of the post-mortem report that was publicly available spoke of internal injuries, but the medical examination shows that Suryawanshi had breathing problems.”
While the medical examination report is not publicly available, it cannot be denied that the provisional post-mortem findings did record internal injuries as cause of his death – the finding that Fadnavis had nothing to say about. Additionally, a medical examination is conducted at the time of arrest and production before a magistrate when the person is alive, not on a dead body. It is not the same as a post-mortem report.
Underlying health conditions and internal injuries are entirely different factors, which Fadnavis tried to conflate in his statement.
When an accused person is produced before the court, the magistrate is legally bound to ask if the accused has any complaints of police brutality or misconduct. While these questions are procedurally asked, it is common knowledge that the police try to prevent the accused from speaking up before the court.
In Suryawanshi’s case, the police had surrounded him and over 40 others who were arrested for their alleged role in ransacking both public and private property following the desecration of a replica of the constitution installed in Parbhani town.
Also read: Parbhani Violence: Forensic Report Confirms Police Torture in Death of Law Student
Fadnavis has turned the vulnerability of a dead person against him, claiming that “since Suryawanshi didn’t complain of any police torture, the allegation of torture can’t be true.”
From the very start, the police had attempted to portray the prime accused in the desecration, Datta Sopan Pawar, as a “lunatic”. Fadnavis too today reiterated the claim and further added that “Pawar regrets his act of desecrating the replica of the constitution”.
Police torture, a common but deadly truth of Indian policing, has over the years become more sophisticated, with the police leaving very little evidence of their involvement. One common tactic the police use is rounding up accused persons and taking them to corners or rooms in a police station where no CCTV is installed. In this case, Fadnavis claims that there are no CCTV recordings to show that Suryawanshi was beaten up.
Suryawanshi was one of many youths arrested on December 11 and 12 in a city-wide combing operation launched by the Parbhani police. The police are accused of entering Dalit Bahujan settlements across Parbhani, indiscriminately beating people, destroying their private property, and arresting them in connection with one of the eight FIRs lodged in the Parbhani violence. The police atrocity has been widely documented by victims in mobile phones and CCTV footage from around the region.
Today, defending the Parbhani police, Fadnavis claimed that “the police had not done anything unlawful, but still a young man from a marginalised community has died.” “The family,” Fadnavis announced on the floor of the assembly, “will be compensated, and Rs 10 lakh will be paid to the kin.”
In response, rights activist, lawyer, and vice-president of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Priyadarshi Telang, asked if Fadnavis was admitting to the police’s crime. “Because there is no provision under which an accused person is given compensation just for being from a marginalised community. If the chief minister has agreed to pay compensation, he is indirectly accepting that the police took Suryawanshi’s life.”
Anti-caste activists and political parties have called for compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job for Suryawanshi’s brother, also a post-graduate, who works as a labourer in Pune.
Also read: Parbhani Violence: Man Picked Up in Combing Operation Dies in Judicial Custody
Suryawanshi belonged to the Wadar community, a nomadic tribe that has historically lived on the fringes of society. Despite difficult circumstances, Suryawanshi, who did odd jobs, managed to pursue his studies. Upon his death, his inconsolable mother said, “I lost my bright child to state atrocity. I have lost everything, but I will fight to ensure no other child is killed by the state.”
Senior anti-caste activist Rahul Pradhan reminded that Suryawanshi was soon going to be a lawyer. “He was a young man with a long career ahead. The police brought a brutal halt to his life and dreams, and crushed his family’s chance at a better life. The state can’t get away with a meager Rs 10 lakh compensation,” Pradhan said.
Pradhan also condemned Fadnavis’s statement defending the police in the assembly, calling it “hogwash”. “There is enough evidence to show that the police used excessive force against the Dalit Bahujan men and women. Yet, all Fadnavis has done is shield the police.”
Telang also said that Fadnavis’s claims about the medical report were “only an attempt to confuse the agitating Ambedkarites”. “Like Fadnavis claims, it’s possible that Suryawanshi had some health issues and might have expressed them to the doctors or the magistrate, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he was tortured. The chief minister can claim whatever he wants, but the post-mortem report doesn’t lie,” he added.
Even while Fadnavis continued to deny charges against the police, he announced that police inspector Ashok Jogdand, who has been accused of using excessive force, has been suspended pending inquiry. “A judicial inquiry, under a retired judge, has been ordered,” Fadnavis claimed.