Gujarat: Body of man found hanging exhumed after family raised doubts

The family immediately informed the police and demanded that the body be exhumed and the death be investigated. “The body had been sent for postmortem. Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. There are no signs of murder.

The body of a 40-year-old man was exhumed Thursday evening, hours after his burial in Dahod, after his family raised suspicion over his death. Mohammad Arakh was found hanging at his residence in Kasba area of Dahod town early on Thursday.

According to the family members, his wife woke up around 4.30 am and found her husband who left home Wednesday evening hadn’t returned. She went out to look for him and found the main door of their house open. When she approached the door, she found Arakh hanging near the stairs leading to the terrace. His body was brought down by his sons and the extended family was informed. The family also stated in the complaint that Arakh had an injury on his forehead. His final rites were performed around 9 am.

After the burial, Arakh’s youngest son informed his uncle that on Wednesday evening, he overheard his father shouting on a phone call, after which he left home. Arakh’s elder brother checked his phone record and found his conversation with one Javed Qazi over paying an installment for a mobile phone that Arakh had purchased six months ago. In the alleged phone conversation, Qazi is heard threatening Arakh that if he fails to pay the installment within a day, then he would kill him, dismember his body and dispose it of.

The family immediately informed the police and demanded that the body be exhumed and the death be investigated. “The body had been sent for postmortem. Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. There are no signs of murder. The family has confirmed that the head injury was when they were trying to pull the body down. Based on the evidences provided, we have registered a case of abetment of suicide,” said investigating officer VP Patel.

The accused was booked under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). The accused is yet to be arrested. Sharing details regarding the installment, Patel said, “This was the final installment of Rs 2,000 to be paid for a mobile phone he purchased six months ago on an EMI. The final installment was due for over a month.”