A 33-year-old soldier, who had figured out in a sting operation by a news website, in Last month, was found dead on Thursday in his room in Deolali Cantonment in Maharashtra. Since last Saturday, Roy Mathew, a gunner in the Deolali Cantonment, was missing. His body was found in a decomposed state in abandoned barracks. On Thursday he was found hanging from the ceiling of a room. Doctors said that Roy Mathew, whose body was decomposed, might have died 3 days ago.
Mathew had served Indian Army for around 13 years. Police sources said that he was seen in the video which featured soldiers walking dogs of officers and taking their children to school, while Army denied having any hand in his death. The sting operation had sparked the uproar against the ‘Sahayak’ system. After the sting operation posted online, Roy Mathew was facing a frequent inquiry. Maybe that was the reason for his missing since 25th February. He told his friends that he had recently spoken to a media person about the problematic situation of the soldiers in the Army and of the menial tasks which they were forced to perform. He claimed that he ensured that he was not being recorded, but later, the video went viral as his total interview was recorded secretly. He also told his friends that he feared that he will lose his job and he have to face consequences for the act.
The Defense Ministry termed the death as a suicide and said that after initial investigations it has been revealed that it is a result of the series of events which were triggered by media personnel by asking leading questions on his duties as a buddy without his knowledge. The ministry also said that it was only for the ‘guilty factor’, which pushed him over the edge, for letting down his seniors or conveying a false impression. And his diary proved that. According to a senior police officer, Shrikant Dhivre, Mr.thew wrote in his diary that he was feeling bad about taking names of his seniors and said sorry to some of them. However, the case has been registered by police as a case of “accidental death”, and asserting that only forensic tests can confirm how he died.
The army denies that Roy Mathew was questioned and under pressure after the video was posted in public. But sources said that he did send a SMS to an officer saying “sorry” last Saturday.
According to his brother Jijo, the suicide is very shocking. He had called his brother last Friday on 24th February, after that his phone was switched off. He didn’t indicate that he was tensed. His family tried to call him but they didn’t expect such incident.
A few days ago, another incident became viral in January 2017, when Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh had alleged that they were forced to polish boots and wash cloths of his seniors.
