SRINAGAR: A Jammu family has disputed the official version of their son’s death and is seeking investigations. Their son, a soldier, committed suicide in Uri.
On October 2, police said they have registered a case in a suicide by a soldier in Uri. He was identified as Rakshit Kumar (22) resident of Samba district, who was serving Army’s 2 JAKLI regiment. Police said he shot himself with his service rifle at JACK 1 post of sub sector Gohallan village. “Soon after the incident, his colleagues rushed to the spot and found him lying in a pool of blood,” the report said. Immediately, he was rushed to sub-district hospital (SDH) Uri for autopsy.
However, the Jammu family is alleging a foul play.
“My son can never take his own life and how can a person fire two gunshots to end one’s life,” Hindustan Times quoted his mother saying. “How could he kill himself? I talked to him that morning at 8 am and he sounded cheerful. He was a bachelor and had no problem back home.”
The family members placed their dead son’s body at the busy Satwari Chowk in Jammu that disrupted traffic movement for over two hours on Saturday afternoon, the newspaper reported.
Kumar, 21, was son of Kuldeep Singh of Barota Camp in Ramgarh sector of Samba. The family, however, was living in Sanjay Nagar Jammu.
Besides, the family was outraged over how their son’s body was sent home. “The body arrived in a private vehicle escorted by two soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, and headed to their homes on leave,” the newspaper said.
“The family complained that the deceased soldier should have been sent home with full military honours and demanded the status of a martyr for him.”
PostScript
(Updated October 5, 2020, 2310 hours)
Hindustan Times reported on October 5, 2020, that the last rites of the soldier were conducted with full military honours. It also reported that the army has announced a court of inquiry into the incident
