Kollam/Thiruvanathapuram : A jawan, who was found dead after a sting video on the “abuse” of buddy system in the army, was laid to rest in Kollam district after a fresh autopsy was conducted following insistence of his family, who raised doubts over his demise.
Earlier, the body of the 33-year-old jawan, Roy Mathew, was brought to Thiruvanathapuram, the state capital, from Maharashtra by a flight this morning.
Mathew was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in an abandoned barrack in Deolali cantonment in Maharashtra’s Nasik on Thursday. His relatives refused to accept that he would have ended his life.
Alleging that there were marks of beating on his feet and blood had clotted in some parts, his relatives, including wife Finy, refused to accept the body until a fresh post-mortem was conducted in Kerala.
Following the plea of the family, a re-post-mortem was conducted at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital after which the body was taken to Karuvelil in Ezhukon in Kollam district for the final journey.
Hundreds of people offered tributes to the soldier as the coffin draped in the Indian Tricolour was kept for public homage. The funeral was held later at a local church.
Earlier, the family alleged that disrespect was shown to the body as it was left unattended in a trolley for nearly half an hour at the airport.
Finy, who was at the airport to receive his mortal remains, said, “I need to get justice. I want to know how it happened. I want to see him.”
Relatives have alleged that there were injury marks on his body.–PTI
