Kerala man’s suicide after viral bus video: Police book woman for abetment

A day after a Kerala man died by suicide after he was allegedly insulted in a video, police on Monday booked a woman on charges of abetting suicide. The State Human Rights Commission also asked the North Kerala DIG to probe the matter and sought a report within a week.

According to police, a 42-year-old native of Kozhikode district died by suicide after a woman shared a video on social media in which he was accused of sexual misconduct during a bus journey.

The death of the man, the lone breadwinner of his family, caused outrage in Kerala.

Earlier, Kozhikode police had registered a case of unnatural death in connection with the man’s suicide. On Monday, a new case under section 108 (abetting suicide) of the BNS was registered, listing the woman who posted the video as the accused.

Senior BJP leader and former Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai was among those who visited the parents of the deceased.

The man’s relatives and friends had said that the video, which had gone viral, shattered him. After his death, the woman who made the video told reporters, “While travelling by bus in Payyannur (in Kannur district), I realised that a woman standing in front of the man was very uncomfortable. He was standing very close. He had seen me recording a selfie video. He stood very cool for a while. Later, when the rush in the bus eased, he again tried to stand close to me, and I recorded the incident again. I edited both videos and posted them as a single one.”

Shaju Philip is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express Read More