Woman arrested in Shimla Dalit boy death case, booked for abetment of suicide

Shimla, Oct 15 (PTI) A woman accused of using casteist slurs and allegedly abetting a 12-year-old Dalit boy to commit suicide in Rohru's Limbra village has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

According to police, the woman was arrested late Wednesday night after the court rejected her bail plea.

The woman was presented in a court on Thursday and was later sent to a three-day police custody.

She has been booked under sections 107 (abetment of suicide), 115 (voluntary hurt) and 127 (wrongful confinement) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, police said.

A 12-year-old boy from Limda village of Chidgaon area in Rohru allegedly ingested poison last month after he was locked inside a cowshed and subjected to casteist slurs by some women as punishment for entering their house.

The incident triggered outrage among the public, who demanded justice for the family of the victim. In the meantime, the accused woman approached the court seeking anticipatory bail.

The boy's father, in his complaint on September 20, said he found his son lying unconscious in the bed on the evening of September 16 and rushed him to a community health centre.

The boy was referred to the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in Shimla, where he died during treatment the next day.

According to the man, his wife told him that their son was humiliated and locked inside a cowshed by three "upper caste" women after he entered their house while playing.

Traumatised, the boy ate some poisonous substance, which killed him, he said.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Caste Commission expressed dissatisfaction over the police investigation and ordered the suspension of the investigating officer, Manjeet Singh.

On Wednesday, commission chairperson Kuldeep Kumar Dhiman said that laxity at the initial stage affected the investigation. PTI COR VN VN