The Human Rights Forum (HRF) termed as ‘‘unacceptable’‘ the conduct of the Yerragondapalem police and the alleged criminal negligence of a private hospital in Guntur which provided treatment to a Dalit youth from Prakasam district, who succumbed to burns sustained during a suicide bid on December 12.
Visiting the bereaved family members at Mallapalem in Prakasam district on Friday, HRF Andhra Pradesh unit general secretary Y. Rajesh and State secretary G. Rohith said that on December 6, the deceased, Moses was called to the police station for questioning in connection to a scuffle he had witnessed. Following alleged police torture, he resorted to self-immolation. He was rushed to the Government hospitals at Yerragondapalem and Markapur before he was shifted to a private hospital in Gunturl.
The family members reportedly told the HRF team that the burns on his body weren’t life-threatening, which was corroborated by the police. The Guntur hospital’s alleged negligence led to his death, they alleged. Only a few hours prior to his death, his family was informed of his critical WBC count while being kept in the dark on the nature of his treatment, the family members alleged.
The government should initiate action against all those responsible for the youth’s death, and provide compensation to his family as the he was the sole earning member, the HRF functionaries said.
