Akash Jadhavs family wants murder charges pressed against four men who thrashed the youth; police say waiting for court order to revise FIR
Akash Jadhav worked as a delivery boy. He died in Cooper Hospital on December
The death of a 21-year-old man from Santa Cruz East who had been allegedly assaulted by four hooligans last month has sparked anger at his Hanuman Tekdi neighbourhood. Akash Jadhav died on December 4 apparently due to his injuries.
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The family of the youth has accused the local police of shielding his alleged attackers saying that they have political connections. While a case of assault has been registered against the four men, Jadhav's family members want them to face murder charges. The quartet has also been accused of harassing the family of the victim.
The Vakola police said they have not yet taken the four into custody as they have sought court permission to revise the FIR with Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The FIR says Jadhav, who worked as a delivery boy, was returning home around 1.30 am on November 2 when he was attacked by four persons, identified as Nakul Ingawale, Kunal Ingawale, Rohit and Bhim. As he was bleeding from nose, eyes and mouth, he was taken to Cooper Hospital. He underwent a surgery at Sion hospital and returned home after a few days and filed a complaint on November 22.
However, he took ill later and was again taken to Cooper Hospital where he died.
"After repeated requests, a case was registered. All the four were arrested, but they secured bail. Akash succumbed to his injuries during treatment on December 4. But the police did not add murder charges to the FIR," alleged his mother Supriya, who works as a househelp. Jadhav's father suffers from mental illness. He is also survived by two sisters.
Supriya said the residents of their area staged a protest following the death of her son. "The DCP assured us of adding murder charges and arresting the culprits. The section [302] was added, but the accused were not arrested."
Subodh More, a member of Jati Ant Sangharsh Samiti that works against caste discrimination, said the case is beyond the death of a youth. "After assaulting Akash, the accused kicked his house door and asked locals to ostracize the family. His family was not allowed to fetch water from the common tap the next day," he said.
More wants the police to take action against the four under the Prevention of Atrocity act as well. "We strongly believe that the police are not acting against the accused as they are politically connected," he said.
DCP (Zone 8) Manjunath Singe said the court has asked for the post-mortem report. "The hearing is postponed till the report is given by doctors."
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