Teacher kills self after village court verdict

SAGARDIGHI (MURSHIDABAD): A 37-year-old schoolteacher killed himself at Dangapara village in Behrampore early on Sunday after a kangaroo court ordered him to pay a hefty fine for allegedly being spotted in a compromising position with another person’s wife.
Around five days ago, the husband of the woman allegedly spotted Dilip Mondal in a compromising position with his (the former’s) wife and threatened to go to police.Sources, however, said the village chiefs asked the complainant to avoid the cops, assuring him that the matter would be solved by them at the village council.
On Friday evening, the village chiefs — including local Trinamool leaders Ramkrishna Marjit, Faring Marjit, Ashoke Marjit, Madan Mondal and Tarun Mondal, and CPM leader Arun Das, the husband of panchayat member Khusi Das — convened the court at the complainant’s house and ordered Dilip to pay Rs 1,00,000 by three months to the village committee, Rs 50,000 to the complainant and Rs 12,500 each to four local clubs.
Dilip returned home and consumed pesticide at 2am on Sunday. His mother Prano Mondal, who was sleeping in another room, woke up on hearing his cries. Dilip was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced “brought dead”.
A suicide note was recovered, in which Dilip blamed Ramkrishna Marjit, who was part of the village council, for his death.
The Sagardighi police have taken up the case. “We have heard reports that a village council was held, which instructed Dilip to pay Rs 1 lakh as penalty. We are investigating the matter further,” said the investigating officer.
“I do not know why my son was framed in this manner,” said Prano. She also levelled charges against members of the village council. “They threatened to kill us if my son failed to pay the fine. I demand punishment for all who passed the verdict against my innocent son. When I awoke after hearing his cry for help, he told me that he had no alternative but to commit suicide because he could not bear the insult and face the villagers.”
Arun Das, a local CPM leader, said: “I tried to argue that both parties involved in the extramarital affair should have to pay a fine but no one listened to me, so I left the meeting.”
The district superintendent of police, Humayun Kabir, said that they hadn’t yet received any formal complaint.
“But we are searching for Ramkrishna Marjit, whose name was mentioned in the suicide note. If we find that members of the kangaroo court were indeed responsible for the teacher’s death, we’ll arrest their members too,” he added.
The complainant and his wife have left the village.