A 22-year-old man, Arif Mehboob Qureshi, arrested and lodged at Arthur Road Jail for stalking and assaulting a 16-year-old girl, died on Tuesday morning at JJ Hospital in Mumbai after complaining of feeling uneasy.
The jail authorities said Qureshi was having drug withdrawal symptoms and had got fits, after which they admitted him to hospital on September 22. An accidental death report (ADR) was registered at the NM Joshi Marg police station.
However, Qureshi’s family approached the Kalachowkie police station on Tuesday and demanded an inquiry into his death, claiming the jail authorities didn’t inform them when he was admitted to the hospital. They also claimed that the girl’s family had assaulted him. “We are waiting for the post-mortem report, which will make things clear,” said a police officer.
Qureshi, a resident of Sewri, was arrested by the Kalachowkie police earlier this month and sent to judicial custody. He was booked under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, and various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso), said the police officer.