Man publicly assaulted, called ‘Pakistani’, dies by suicide, say Latur police; hunt on for accused

On May 5, police booked the motorist on charges of abetment to suicide following a complaint from Pathan’s wife. At present, the motorist, said to be a local journalist working for a news portal, is on the run.

As per the FIR filed by the MIDC Latur police station, on May 3 night, when Pathan’s wife Samrin, 29, who works in the neighbouring Dharashiv district as a deputy manager in a private bank, contacted him over the phone to ask him to pick her up as usual from the Sanvidhan Chowk, she heard Pathan pleading with someone not to hit him and that he was not at fault.

“During the phone call, I heard the other person telling my husband that he was a journalist. He asked whether my husband was from Kashmir or Pakistan and then hit him. I heard my husband screaming in pain,” said Samrin in her FIR.

Worried Samrin rushed to the place where Pathan was assaulted and found a four-wheeler iwth registration MH24 BR 7008 that the assailant was using. By then the motorist fled the scene.

In her FIR, Samrin claimed that the assailant threatened to post the photos and videos of the assault on the internet and her husband requested him not to do so. She said that the assault left her husband traumatised.

“He said he was an Indian, but the accused man publicly insulted him and called him a Pakistani, threatening to circulate the video. He said he didn’t want to live anymore. I consoled him and tried to destress him. The next day, he was continuously checking the internet to find if his video was circulated,” Samrin added.

On the evening of May 4, when all family members were going to a wedding reception, Pathan told them to go ahead, saying that he would join later.

After an hour, when the family returned home, Samrin found Pathan hanging using a dupatta.

The family members first rushed him to a private hospital. However, doctors referred him to Latur government hospital, where he was declared dead.

On Samrin’s statement, police on Monday registered a case against an unknown person.

“We gave the police the car number and the motorist’s name but police registered case against an unknown person,” said Samrin’s father, Attaullah Pathan.

“There was no suicide note. We have registered a suicide abetment case based on the statement of Pathan’s wife, who was not present at the spot during the alleged incident. She claimed that the accused person asked the deceased man if he was a Pakistani. We are investigating and efforts are on to trace the accused,” said Somay Munde, superintendent of police, Latur.