Haryana: 2007 World Cup hero, DSP Joginder Sharma booked for abetting tribal Youth's suicide

A 27-year-old tribal Youth died by suicide on January 1, after he was reportedly intimidated to vacate the house he was staying in Hisar. Police have booked five including World Cup-winning former cricketer Joginder Sharma following a complaint from the mother of the deceased.

Hisar:An FIR has been registered against former cricketer and Haryana Deputy Superintendent of PoliceJoginder Sharma for his alleged involvement in the suicide of a tribal Youth here, over a property dispute, police said on Thursday.

Haryana Police identified the deceased as Pawan, (27), who reportedly took the drastic step on January 1 after he was threatened to vacate his house in Hisar.

The case was registered on a complaint from the mother of the deceased, Sunita, on January 2, against five individuals including Joginder Sharma.

Sunita, in her complaint, claimed that a case related to the property was pending trial in a Hisar court. She has named a quintet - including Joginder Sharma - as having threatened Pawan to vacate the house. Notwithstanding their harassment, Pawan took the drastic step.

A postmortem was conducted on Wednesday but the victim's family and relatives staged a protest refusing to accept the body, and demanding the accused be arrested under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The present case was registered under Indian Penal Code(IPC) section 306 (abetment to suicide) against the former cricketer and four others.

An ex-medium pacer, Sharma had the distinction of bowling the crucial last over in the inaugural ICC T20 final in South Africa in 2007. It was his scalp of dangerous Pakistani batter Misbah-ul-Haq that saw MS Dhoni's young brigade romp home. He is hailed as the hero of the 2007 World Cup.

As per the complaint, the accused had been harassing the family for the last few years. On October 6, 2020, Sunita had filed a complaint against all the accused, except Joginder, at Azad Nagar police station under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) and the provisions of the SC/ST(PoA) Act.

Suicide is not solution-

If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 9152987821, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.

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