The body of Sodan Singh, 58, was found hanging from a hook. (Representational)A prime witness in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case was found dead near his house in the district’s Sikheda village Saturday.
The body of Sodan Singh, 58, was found hanging from a hook near a tubewell. While police suspect it to be case of suicide, Sodan’s son Ravinder alleged his father was murdered.
An FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by Ravinder against four persons — including two brothers of a minor girl on whose complaint Singh had recently been booked for sexual harassment — on murder charge. Police said Singh was the prime witness to the murders of Jat cousins Sachin and Gaurav at Kawal village in August 2013, which was followed by large-scale riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts in which at least 62 persons were killed and thousands displaced.
He was also an accused in an attempt to murder case lodged in connection with an alleged attack on a Muslim man, three days after the Jat cousins were killed.
Station House Officer (SHO) of Sikheda police station Sarvesh Kumar Singh said, “Sodan Singh was named in a case for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old girl around 20 days ago, but he could not be arrested as he obtained stay a against his arrest from the high court…The post-mortem report stated that the death occurred due to ante-mortem hanging.”
Muzaffarnagar SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh said that so far, they have not found any evidence indicating it was a case of murder. “Sodan Singh was a witness of the prosecution and his testimony had been recorded. He was not an accused in the riots case, but other cases were pending against him…He was declared brought dead when taken to a government hospital nearby.”
Asked about his family’s allegations, the SSP said, “…The complaint stands expunged since the post-mortem report confirmed no signs of struggle and (that it was) purely a case of death by hanging…Prima facie, it appears that he died due to depression.”
