Hours after being arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a girl, a 56-year-old man allegedly committed suicide inside the lockup of Talaja police station in Bhavnagar during the wee hours of Tuesday. Kishordas Sarkadiya was found hanging from iron bars of the lockup of Talaja police station by an assistant police sub inspector (ASI) on duty at around 4 am, police said. The accused was the lone man in the lockup when the incident took place, said Talaja police sub-inspector Sandip Khambhla. Sarkadiya was arrested by Talaja police at 6.30 pm on Monday for allegedly kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old daughter of a farmer in Sankhdasar-II village of Talaja taluka. Police said Sarkadiya, originally from Piparla village in Khambha taluka of nearby Amreli taluka had been living as a sadhu in Sankhdasar-II village for the last eight years. The place of worship where Sarkadiya was living, was near the farm of the victim. The accused allegedly kidnapped the girl in a car, took her to Junagadh, Surat and Kutch and raped her. After the girl’s father filed an application with Talaja police, Sarkadiya was arrested from an ashram in Kutch and the girl was rescued, police said. “The duo were brought to Talaja police station on Monday and after the girl’s father lodged a complaint, Sarkadiya was booked for kidnapping and rape. However, he tore up a shawl and committed suicide by hanging himself with those shreds,” Mahuva DySP Virendrasinh Chauhan, said. The DySP said that an ASI and a police constable were on duty at the time of the incident. “However, the police station is an old-fashioned structure. The lockup room is at the backside of the room of the police station officer (PSO) and therefore not directly visible to the officer on duty. Prima facie, we don’t see any negligence on part of the PSO,” said Chauhan. The DySP, who is investigating officer of the alleged suicide case, further said that Sarkadiya had a family but the accused had turned a sanyasi eight years ago and had been living as a sadhu in Sankhdasar-II village since. “We have sent the girl for medical examination and are waiting for reports to know if she had been raped,” Chauhan further said. Talaja police have registered a case of accidental death in connection with the alleged suicide of the accused and the DySP is further investigating the case.
