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Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Sandosh Kumar P on Friday, October 17, sought the intervention of National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) to probe the death of a software engineer from Kerala’s Kottayam, who alleged sexual harassment at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) camps.
In his letter to NHRC chairperson Justice V Ramasubramaniam, Sandosh urged the Commission to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or direct an appropriate agency to conduct a “time-bound and impartial probe” into the death.
The MP also asked the NHRC to launch a wider investigation to examine if there exists a systematic pattern of abuse, intimidation and institutional shielding of offenders within RSS and its affiliated bodies.
The 26-year-old software engineer was found dead in a lodge in Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram on October 9. He died by suicide after posting a note on Instagram alleging that he was sexually abused as a child by members of the RSS.
Initially a scheduled Instagram post on the deceased’s account alleged he was sexually abused by one ‘NM’, his neighbour and an RSS man. He also mentioned another abuser whom he reportedly met at RSS camp in Kotayam. In the note, the deceased had promised to follow it up with a video.
Six days later, on October 15, a scheduled 12-minute video appeared on his Instagram account where he alleged that his neighbour had been abusing him since the ages of three or four.
“I only realised it was abuse last year. That is the worst part. Rapists will walk away, but the suffering will continue lifelong, till death,” he had said in the video. The abuse as a child resulted in him getting diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, he alleged.
Meanwhile, the RSS has issued a press statement saying that the allegations in the suicide note were baseless and dubious. It also said that the RSS had filed a petition with the District Police Chief of Kottayam, demanding an impartial enquiry into this issue.