Pay Rs 3L to widow of suicide victim: Rights panel

Coimbatore: The state human rights commission (SHRC) directed the state government on Tuesday to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the wife of man, who had committed suicide in 2013.
SHRC member A Chittaranjan Mohandoss in his letter to additional chief secretary of state government’s home department said that the sum should be paid to Arukani, wife of Arukutty, who had committed suicide at Chennamalai Karattumedu near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, within eight weeks. He also directed the government to initiate departmental action on the then Mettupalayam police inspector Sivakumar for not taking action against the two men, who had cheated Arukutty.
According to the SHRC order, Arukutty had purchased a lorry in 2012. One Krishnankutty and Kanagaraj had a verbal agreement with him to operate the lorry and share the profits monthly. However, the two neither gave the promised payments nor returned the lorry. On November 1, 2012, Arukutty lodged a complaint with inspector Sivakumar of Mettupalayam police station. Even as Arukutty’s financial woes mounted, police said they were not able to trace the whereabouts of Krishnankutty and the lorry.
On January 14, 2013, Arukutty committed suicide. Even after his suicide, police failed to investigate the case properly, SHRC noted. Subsequently, Chinnaraj, Coimbatore district president of the International Human Rights Awareness Organization, sent a complaint to the national human rights commission, which was forwarded to SHRC. “The shoddy treatment of the case of suicide and dereliction of duty in not initiating a proper investigation based on the suicide note wherein the names of Kanagaraj and Krishnankutty are mentioned, is a breach in bringing justice and so a violation of the human rights of the complainant,’’ the order said. TNN