Tribal man kills self in Gujarat, kin blame harassment over caste certificate

Mahisagar: Police initiated a probe after a tribal man hanged himself in Gujarat's Mahisagar district, while his kin alleged harassment by an official in issuing a caste certificate to his daughter who has secured a Central government job.

Udabhai Damor, 45, was found hanging from a tree near his house in Ranakpur village in Mahisagar district on Tuesday morning, said Assistant Superintendent of Police, Vivek Bheda.

The deceased was a resident of Ranakpur village in Kadana taluka. Police have registered a case of accidental death.

Damor's family and relatives alleged that he committed suicide due to harassment by a mamlatdar (a local revenue officer). They alleged police are not registering an FIR against officials responsible for Damor's death.

However, another revenue department official said it is a norm that applicants seeking caste certificates submit supporting documents.

"The original caste certificate of Damor's daughter is in Gujarati. However, she needed the certificate in English as she secured a Central government job in the Department of Posts," claimed Kantibhai Damor, a relative of the deceased, on Wednesday.

Kantibhai said Damor had submitted an application to the local mamlatdar for the English document, but the latter made him visit the office multiple times under one pretext or another.

"The mamlatdar would ask Damor to come later, while on some occasions, he would ask him to submit other documents. Damor took the extreme step as he couldn't stand this harassment. Police are not registering an FIR against the officials responsible for his death," alleged Kantibhai.

Deputy Mamlatdar Suresh Sangada claimed the demand for supporting documents was justified and the rules are the same for everyone.

"Damor used to visit our office to obtain the caste certificate for his daughter. Though he claimed that his daughter does have a valid certificate in Gujarati, he never submitted it with his application. He used to bring different documents instead of what was asked for," Sangada recalled.

ASP Bheda on Wednesday met the aggrieved relatives and assured a probe into Damor's death.

"We have registered a case of accidental death, while a doctors' panel has conducted postmortem (of Damor). We will investigate the allegations levelled by the kin of the deceased," said Bheda.