Mansa: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that the post-mortem examination of Daljit Singh, a resident of Bhamme Kalan village in Punjab's Mansa district, be conducted at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, and that his cremation take place at the Sector 25 cremation ground in Chandigarh, ANI reported. The directions were issued during the hearing of a petition filed by Daljit Singh's sister, Amarjit Kaur.
Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer
TezzBuzz, carrying the same report, confirmed both directions — the post-mortem at PGIMER Chandigarh and the last rites at the Sector 25 cremation ground — making the High Court's order the latest development in a case that has kept Mansa on edge since Daljit Singh's death on 27 October, in the middle of the district's continuing protests over the 13 October killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota.
Source: TezzBuzz
Daljit Singh's death on 27 October, the police seizure of his body as the family carried it towards the Mansa protest, and the murder case registered by police were reported earlier; the National Human Rights Commission then took cognisance on 28 October and sought an action-taken report from the Punjab Chief Secretary and the DGP within two weeks. Read: NHRC notice on Daljit Singh's death
What the petition sought
In her petition, Amarjit Kaur sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into her brother's death, an independent post-mortem at PGI Chandigarh, and protection for the family, ANI reported. Punjab E News had reported on 1 November, when the petition was filed, that it sought the same three reliefs — a CBI investigation, a post-mortem by doctors at PGI Chandigarh and security for the family — and that Amarjit Kaur alleged police had taken custody of her brother's body against the family's wishes and prevented them from performing his last rites. The reports of Tuesday's hearing record the court's directions on the post-mortem and the cremation; they do not record any direction on the demand for a CBI probe.
Source: Punjab E News
The family's allegations, and what police say
According to the petition, Daljit Singh was found unconscious near his residence on 27 October and subsequently died. His family has alleged that he died of a suspected drug overdose, and has also alleged that his body was thrown from a vehicle. The petition further alleged that when family members, villagers and panchayat representatives were taking his body to the ongoing anti-drug demonstration in Mansa, police intercepted them at Ramdittewala Chowk, resorted to a lathi-charge and forcibly took possession of the mortal remains, and that an initial post-mortem examination had been conducted without the family's knowledge or consent. These are the petitioner's allegations, recorded here as stated in the petition; no court finding on them has been reported. The police, for their part, have classified the death as a murder and are searching for the perpetrators, ANI reported.
Daljit Singh's wife, Paramjit Kaur, had demanded justice on 29 October and the release of family members and villagers detained by police. 'When we brought the body, it was snatched away from us. We want justice. We want that our people who have been held (by police) should be released,' she told ANI.
Background: a district already in protest
Mansa has been in continuous protest since 13 October, when anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead at a chemist's shop in the town — a killing the state government later handed to the CBI. Daljit Singh's death on 27 October, and the police handling of his body as the family tried to carry it to the Jhota protest site, opened a second front: the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Punjab Chief Secretary and the DGP on 28 October, and on 29 October the state replaced the deputy superintendents of police in all three of Mansa's sub-divisions while a court remanded Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) functionary Lakha Sidhana and activist Mohanjit Singh Sheron to four days of police custody in an attempt-to-murder case arising from the 27 October clash — a police allegation on which no court finding has been reported.
What happens next: the post-mortem at PGIMER is expected to establish the medical cause of Daljit Singh's death, which remains disputed between the family, who allege a suspected drug overdose, and the police, who are treating the death as murder. The cremation is to follow at the Sector 25 cremation ground in Chandigarh under the court's direction. Separately, the NHRC's two-week deadline for the Punjab Chief Secretary and the DGP to file their action-taken report, issued on 28 October, also falls due in the coming days.
Earlier in this case: the seizure of Daljit Singh's body and the opening of the murder probe. Read the earlier report