Jail officials booked in UP district for undertrial's murder

Sitapur, Nov 20 (IANS) Sitapur deputy jailer Vijay Lakshmi Gautam, jail pharmacist Shailendra Verma, jail staff Sudhanshu Srivastava and an unidentified jail employee in Uttar Pradesh have been booked for the murder of an undertrial in April 2023.

The FIR was lodged on Sunday following a district court order.

The victim’s mother had moved court, accusing the jail officials of torturing her son and negligence in treatment which led to his death.

Babloo Singh, 28, was an accused in a gang-rape case and lodged in Sitapur district jail.

Circle officer (city) Sushil Kumar Singh said that an FIR has been registered against the jail officials and an investigation is being conducted.

In her complaint, the victim’s mother, Seema Singh, alleged that the accused jail officials extorted money from her son and when he refused, he was subjected to brutal torture.

“Whenever we met him in the jail, he always urged us to give money, so that he could give it to the jail officials,” she said.

“On April 14, 2023, the accused jail officials tortured my son and he breathed his last. Later, as a part of a conspiracy, they shifted him to the district hospital where he was declared brought dead,” she alleged.

Her complaint to the senior police officials, state women’s commission, human rights panel did not yield any result and she then moved court with her petition.

A police official said that Babloo was sent to the district hospital on April 14 after his health deteriorated. He died during the treatment, he claimed.

“The post-mortem was conducted by a panel. The viscera, and whole heart was preserved, while the exact cause of death could not be ascertained,” he said.

Following his death, some prison inmates started protesting and refused to take food, alleging negligence in his treatment.