Jaipur: The city police on Friday arrested a fifth man on charge of driving an elderly priest to commit suicide by self-immolation in Murlipura. The priest’s family, whichclaimed to have found a “suicide note” purportedly written by the victim, agreed to take his body for the last rites after being promised of compensation and a job.
Maliram Swami, one of the seven suspects booked for the death of 60-year-old Girija Prasad Sharma on Thursday, was arrested, said Additional DCP (West) Ram Singh. Four other accused – Dinesh Dhariyal, Moolchand Man, Sanwarmal Agarwal and Ram Kishan – were arrested before Sharma died at SMS Hospital on Thursday night.
“All the five arrested men are on police remand. We have filed an FIR under IPC Section 306 (abetment of suicide) read with Section 511(attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment),” said Singh.
Sharma set himself on fire at 5:30am on Thursday. A group of local youths heading to a gym saw him and called in an ambulance. He was rushed to SMS Hospital, where he succumbed to burn injuries shortly after 11:36 pm.
“The family has agreed to conduct the last rites. The family will get a dairy booth, Rs 10 lakh as compensation, and a job for a kin on a contractual basis. We have already given them a cheque of Rs 5 lakh,” said ACP (Jhotwara) Pramod Kumar Swami. He said police assured the family that a fair probe was being conducted and that the guilty would not be spared.
In her complaint to police, Sharma’s wife alleged that he was tormented by the accused, all members of the ‘vikas samiti’ (development committee) in Shankar Vihar Colony in Murlipura. She alleged that the accused wanted to oust Sharma to take control of the temple.
The priest’s death triggered protests in the locality on Friday. Residents came out in large numbers and alleged that the committee acted as a small “caucus” of influential people. “The priest lived in a small room with his family. He depended on donations from devotees. But the accused had been harassing him for a long time,” said advocate Rekha Dixit, a local resident.
Although Sharma’s son, Janu Sharma, said the family has found a “suicide note” he had written, police said they are yet to learn of any such note.
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