Shocking Video of J&K Youth Who Committed Suicide Surfaces

�Srinagar: A Gujjar youth of the Billawar area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district committed suicide earlier this week after he was allegedly tortured by the police over his links with separatist militants.

Now, in a shocking turn of events, a short video showing him saying he is ending his life so that “not anyone else” becomes a victim of torture and humiliation like he himself did in the hands of the police has gone viral. Whether the tribal youth recorded the video on his own or he was prompted by anyone to do it is being investigated, the police sources said.

The 3.48-minute video has been recorded in a mosque in which 25-year-old Din is seen taking a copy of the Qur'an from a wall mounted roof rack of the place of worship and then while holding it on his head swears that he has never even seen a militant. He alleges that he was, however, subjected to brutal thrashing and torture in the police station which led to his forced confession.

The police had detained Din, a resident of Perody village of Billawar, after accusing him of being an Over Ground Worker (OWG) of terrorists. “This is the adored book of Allah and His Prophet messenger. I swear by it that I have never seen a militant or know their whereabouts. But I was severely beaten up in the police station and forced to confess that I have the phone number of militants”, he says in the purported video.

Din claims that he made the concocted story and told the police that he knows militants and Swaru-his uncle Swar Din alias Swaru Gujjar and an accused in the July 8, 2024 terror attack on an Army convoy near Badnote village of Billawar in which four soldiers were killed and six others injured. Swar has since fled to Pakistan to escape arrest.

Din says, “They stopped beating me and let me go in the morning to bring my mobile phone to the police station. I told them that I have the phone numbers from Pakistan. What will I furnish them now as I don’t have any such numbers? They will again beat me up”.

In the video, Din is also heard appealing to the SSP of Kathua that whatever he had said to the police the previous night was not true. “I lied because I was beaten up and forced to confess”. In the video, the tribal youth eventually takes out what appears to be a sealed packet of insecticides from the pocket of an inner garment and tears it open, saying he will consume it and he will die. He seeks forgiveness from God and says that he is ending his life “so others he is leaving behind are saved …Oh Allah accept my sacrifice, keep my family happy always…”

The police had said on Thursday that Din died by suicide after consuming insecticides after he got exposed during questioning. “He was not tortured at all. He had several suspicious contacts in Pakistan and other foreign countries. He promised to cooperate with the police. He went home and committed suicide,” a police official had said.

As the incident sparked outrage by the opposition parties, the authorities ordered a probe and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced that he has taken up the matter along with the killing of a lorry driver by the Army troops that took place in J&K’s Baramulla district the previous evening with the Union government. J&K being a Union Territory, the police, and law and order subjects are directly controlled by the Centre through the Lieutenant Governor.

“I have seen the reports of excessive use of force and harassment of Makhan Din in police custody in Billawar leading to his suicide and the death of Waseem Ahmed Malla, shot by the Army under circumstances that are not entirely clear,” the Chief Minister had said in a post on ‘X.

He had asserted that both these incidents are highly unfortunate and should not have happened. “J&K will never be completely normalised and free of terror without the cooperation of and partnership with the local population. Incidents like these risk alienating the very people who we need to carry with us on the road to complete normalcy,” he said, adding, “I have taken up these incidents with the Union Government and insisted that both incidents are inquired into in a time bound, transparent manner. The Government in J&K will also order its inquiries.”

The authorities had said that separate probes have been initiated following the allegations of custodial torture. Kathua District Magistrate Rakesh Minhas had said that he has ordered a magisterial probe to ascertain the exact cause of Din’s death. The DM appointed Tehsildar of Lohai Malhar area, Anil Kumar, as the inquiry officer and asked him to record the statements of all relevant individuals and submit a detailed report within five days.

Even though the local police have claimed that Din took his own life by consuming insecticide, the J&K has appointed DIG (Jammu-Samba-Kathua range) Shiv Kumar Sharma as the head of a fact-finding committee into the incident and directed him to submit his report within ten days. The J&K police wrote on ‘X’, “The Zonal Police Headquarters Jammu has taken cognizance of the Kathua issue and ordered a time-bound inquiry by DIG JKS Range. “A police spokesman added that since the incident has raised concerns, the concerned authorities assure a fair investigation.

Former Chief Minister and leader of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti had alleged that Din was detained by the SHO of Billawar on false charges of being an OGW of militants. “He was reportedly subjected to brutal thrashing and torture, forced into a confession, and tragically found dead today,” she said, adding that the incident “appears to follow a troubling pattern of targeting innocent youths on fabricated charges.”