Man Dies By Suicide After Police Allegedly Abuse, Torture Him

A 21-year-old man in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh died by suicide earlier this week after he was beaten by local police officers, his family claimed.

The man, identified as Pragada Sri Krishna Bhagavan, was called to the Mandapeta police station in the city of Kakinada Tuesday by Mandapeta Circle Inspector K. Durga Prasad over a harassment complaint filed by the family of Bhagavan's female friend, the New Indian Express reported.

However, Bhagavan was abused and beaten when he went to the station, his family alleged.

The alleged incident resulted in Bhagavan becoming depressed, and he later hanged himself at a shed near Ravulapadu village, according to his family.

Bhagavan's family staged a protest with his body at Kaluvapadu center in Mandepta, which caused traffic disruptions for nearly two hours.

Ramachandrapuram deputy superintendent of police Balachandra Reddy and other police officials from Anaparti, Mandapeta Rural and Ramachandrapuram stations responded to the scene and assured Bhagavan's family that an inquiry into the allegations of "torture" would be launched.

The family staged another protest at a mortuary Thursday morning, but they withdrew their protest after Eluru Range deputy inspector general of police K.V. Mohan Rao ordered for Prasad to be suspended.

In a similar incident, a 21-year-old man in Delhi took his own life nearly a month ago after he was allegedly tortured by authorities.

University student Suraj Thakur hanged himself at his home in West Delhi's Hari Nagar area on Feb. 13.

Delhi police had questioned him about a phone-snatching incident involving his friends hours before Thakur was found dead.

Authorities allegedly asked Thakur to call the accused, but they also asked him if he, too, was involved in a friend's alleged harassment of girls.

Additionally, police took Thakur's phone without informing his family and "threatened" and "tortured" him during his detainment, Thakur's 18-year-old brother Neeraj claimed.

Thakur went straight to his room following his release and hanged himself, Neeraj said.

Police have denied the allegations and claimed they only called Thakur in for questioning before he was released.

They also claimed Thakur was kept in the police station for about 10 minutes and was neither threatened nor intimidated.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and "appropriate legal action" will be taken, additional deputy commissioner of police for West Delhi Prashant Gautam said.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.