Thiruvananthapuram: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has dismissed the police report on the death of Wayanad tribal man Vishwanathan on the premises of Kozhikode Medical College Hospital a few days ago. The police report had termed his death a suicide.
However, the Commission asked whether someone would die by suicide for no reason. Strongly ridiculing the police, the commission chairman B S Maoji instructed Medical College ACP K Sudarshan to file a case under the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and submit a new report in four days.
The Commission had many questions for the police - Why wasn't a case registered under this Act? Do you see this as a natural death? Why would someone die by suicide for no reason? It's not right to file a case just terming it unnatural death, said the Commission.
It added that Vishwanathan might have faced assault because of the colour of his skin or shabby attire, which led people to wrongly assume that he was a robber. He took his life when he had a child after waiting for 18 years.
Something he couldn't bear has happened and it is the police's responsibility to find the same, the panel said. The Commission also said the executive magistrate not conducting an inquest was also a failure.
