Brothers arrested for abetment in Koregaon Bhima girl’s suicide

PUNE: The Shikrapur police on Monday arrested two brothers and booked seven others from Koregaon Bhima under section 306 of the IPC (abetment of suicide), a day after the body of Pooja Sakat (19) was found in a well near the rehabilitation centre for the January 1 violence-hit villagers.
The police said the arrested duo, Vilas and Ganesh Vedpathak, and the other suspects had been harassing Pooja and her family. The Pune rural police has also appointed an inquiry officer to probe the case.

Pooja’s uncle, Vilas Sakat, had filed a police complaint after her body was found.

Pooja was the lone witness to the burning of her family’s house-cum-hotel during the January 1 violence. The people charged with abetment in her suicide were named by the Sakat family in the arson case.

A senior officer of the Pune rural police said the preliminary post-mortem report mentions drowning as the cause of Pooja’s death. “Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. Pooja’s viscera has been preserved for a chemical analysis,” he added.

Pooja’s father, Suresh, told TOI, “My daughter appeared disturbed over the last few days. All our family members had submitted supplementary statements to the Shikrapur police on April 11 about the suspects involved in the arson case. My daughter was a witness to the arson as our home and hotel were torched in front of her.”

Suresh said, “The trouble started after the statements of our family members were recorded. The villagers mentioned in the statements began troubling us. We suspect that Pooja, unable to bear the harassment, jumped into the well. The police should arrest those who tortured my family members. The torture led to Pooja’s death.”

Pooja’s brother, Jaideep, had told TOI on Sunday, “My sister left home around 1.30pm on Saturday to visit someone in the village. When she did not return till late evening, we searched for her and contacted her friends. We were shocked to learn from villagers that her body was floating in the well.”

The homeless Sakat family has been staying in a makeshift house in the rehabilitation centre in the village.

Violence broke out in Koregaon Bhima, Sanaswadi, Perne Phata and other villages along the Pune-Ahmednagar highway on January 1 during the 200-year celebrations of the Koregaon Bhima battle between the British and the Maratha troops. Sanaswadi resident Rahul Fatangale was killed in stone-pelting. About 100 vehicles were torched, while around 60 homes and commercial establishments were set ablaze.