A 30-year-old Guwahati man arrested for beheading his wife and storing her severed head in a refrigerator died after allegedly attacking the Assam Police personnel accompanying him from a hospital following medical examinations, jumping off a moving vehicle, and falling into a gorge, an officer said on Monday.
“He jumped from the vehicle and fell into a gorge near the Narakashur Pahar area. He added that Goswami was rescued with injuries and was taken to hospital, where the doctors declared him dead. Goswami’s death in custody is the latest in a series of such deaths in the state. A death in police custody is treated as a custodial death regardless of the cause, whether it is an escape attempt or of natural causes, warranting a magisterial inquiry. The Supreme Court directed the commission to reconsider the matter and conduct the probe, including allegations of injuries from illegal police action, popularly known as encounters. It asked the AHRC to approach the matter with sensitivity and the Assam government to cooperate fully and remove any institutional barriers.
Records showed Goswami was brought to the hospital at 2:41am and declared dead on arrival. In January 2023, the high court said people were killed and injured in police action, but the state government had registered first information reports to probe them. Jwadder’s petition said 54 people were killed and 140 injured in police action.
Anjad Brahma, the officer-in-charge of the Hatigaon Police Station where Ramanuj Goswami was being taken, said that the incident happened in the early hours of Monday and the body has been sent for postmortem. A second officer said Goswami suddenly attacked the police team escorting him back to the police station. Doctors said he had severe head injuries.
His seven-day police remand was to end on Monday, and the police were to produce him before the court.
Goswami’s family refused to accept the body, claiming this was not an accidental death but a so-called “encounter” killing. It said they were preparing for post-death rituals of Goswami’s wife, Riya Talukdar, but cancelled them after the report of Goswami’s death. The family said these rituals according to Hindu customs cannot be continued after his death.
