Patiala: A 23-year-old Dalit youth from Kanoi village in Punjab’s Sangrur district allegedly died by suicide on Saturday. His family accused the village sarpanch and his aides of abetment and prolonged harassment.Sanamdeep Singh alias Sunny allegedly consumed some poisonous substance at his home on Friday. He was taken to Sangrur Civil Hospital, from where he was referred to an advanced facility. Sanamdeep died during treatment early Saturday.Sanamdeep’s family and other villagers staged a dharna outside the hospital mortuary, refusing to permit an autopsy or accept the body for cremation until police registered an FIR and acted against the suspects.The family alleged that an ongoing rivalry had led to sustained intimidation by the incumbent sarpanch and his associates. They accused the sarpanch of repeatedly cornering and threatening Sanamdeep, and previously attempting to run him down with tractors and other vehicles.Advocate Manpreet Singh Namol, who joined the protest, cited the Supreme Court ruling in Lalita Kumari vs State and said police should register a case before conducting an inquiry. The family claimed cross-FIRs followed earlier altercations.SHO, Sadar Sangrur, Jaswinder Kaur denied that cross-cases had been registered in the past. She said the family had accused the sarpanch but had not submitted corroborating evidence, adding that appropriate legal action would follow verification of the facts.The sarpanch, elected in 2022 and associated with the ruling AAP, denied the allegations. He claimed the youth died by suicide because his parents opposed his wish to marry a girl from the neighbourhood. The sarpanch alleged that rivals were pressuring the family to falsely implicate him.He also said the youth and his family had registered a case against him for assault and trespass in 2019. Five months ago, based on another villager’s complaint, Sanamdeep and his family were booked for assault and trespass.
