The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the registration of an FIR within a week in the custodial death of 35-year-old Somnath Suryawanshi, who died while in judicial custody days after his arrest following communal violence in Parbhani last December.
The Aurangabad bench, in its interim order, asked the inspector of Mondha Police Station in Parbhani to act upon a complaint filed on December 18, 2024, and initiate criminal proceedings. It further instructed the district Superintendent of Police to entrust the investigation to an officer of Deputy Superintendent of Police rank.
Suryawanshi was arrested in connection with violence triggered by the desecration of a glass-encased replica of the Constitution and died on December 15 at a government hospital. While police attributed his death to illness, a magisterial inquiry later found that Suryawanshi had been assaulted at the Nava Mondha Police Station. The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, citing the magistrate’s findings, said police officials named in the report were responsible for his death.
The criminal writ petition was filed by Suryawanshi’s mother, Vijayabai Suryawanshi, with senior advocate Prakash Ambedkar representing her.
The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on July 30.
