Kasganj custodial death case: Girl was not a minor, kidnapping charge against Altaf to be dropped, say police

Police claimed that he had hanged himself with a drawstring from the hood of his jacket, using a water pipe in a toilet that is a couple of feet from the ground. (Express Photo) 

In a new development in the Kasganj custodial death case, the police said that the girl – reported missing by her family – was not a minor. It also said that the kidnapping charge against 22-year-old Altaf who was found dead at a police station on November 9, would be dropped as the couple knew each other, reported The Indian Express. 

“The father of the woman had stated in his complaint that she is a minor. It was found that she is 19 years old. The section of kidnapping that had earlier been added to the FIR will be removed. Once the copy of her statement before the magistrate is obtained, further action will be considered,” Botre Rohan Pramod, Kasganj SP, was quoted as saying.

Altaf was arrested last week on the complaint by the girl’s family who accused him of kidnapping her. He was charged under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Altaf was found dead at the police station on November 9. Police claimed that he had hanged himself with a drawstring from the hood of his jacket, using a water pipe in a toilet that is a couple of feet from the ground.

Altaf’s family, however, has rejected the police theory of suicide and demanded justice and strict punishment for those responsible for his death. While the victim’s family has alleged that he was killed by the police personnel on duty, police have said he strangulated himself using a string from his jacket hood in the washroom of the lock-up.

A departmental inquiry and a magisterial probe into the custodial death are being conducted simultaneously.

Meanwhile, police said they are looking for a man who was reportedly in touch with Atlaf. According to police, this man is suspected to have accompanied the 19-year-old to several places before she was found at the Kasganj railway station.