A contract driver employed by the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation was found dead inside the very garbage collection vehicle he drove, parked at a water tank premises in the Betiahata area of Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district, triggering panic among residents. The deceased has been identified as 21 year old Mukesh Paswan, a resident of Nausad village under the Geeda police station area. Mukesh worked as a driver for a garbage collection vehicle under the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation's outsourcing system and would take the vehicle out on a fixed city route every day.
Body found hanging from a rope tied to a tree inside the driver's seat
On Wednesday, the garbage vehicle that was on Mukesh's duty roster was found parked at the water tank premises in Betiahata, even though it was supposed to be out on its scheduled city route at that time. Passersby who glanced inside the vehicle discovered that Mukesh's body was hanging from a noose formed by a rope tied to a tree, right on the driving seat. Shocked onlookers immediately alerted the Dial-112 police helpline. A police team rushed to the spot, cordoned off the area, launched an inquiry and took the body into custody before sending it for a post mortem examination. Officers also carried out a detailed inspection inside the vehicle and in the surrounding area to gather evidence.
An inter-caste love marriage barely two months old
During questioning, it emerged that Mukesh had married a woman from another community in a love marriage roughly 2 months earlier. Neither side of the two families had accepted the marriage, and both had openly opposed it. Following the families' anger, Mukesh and his wife had left their village and moved to the city, where they were living in a rented house and trying to build a new life together. On learning of the incident, Mukesh's wife also reached the spot, but broke down and lost consciousness on seeing her husband's body hanging inside the vehicle, and local residents had to work hard to help her. Police are now questioning Mukesh's wife extensively to establish whether the couple had received any threats from either family after the marriage, or whether some dispute had taken place between them in recent days. Police officials say that, going by the circumstances at the scene, the case appears at first glance to be one of suicide, but every aspect linked to the crime scene is being examined seriously as a precaution, so that no clue is overlooked.
Father alleges Mukesh was murdered elsewhere and the body was placed in the garbage vehicle
Mukesh's father, Manoj Paswan, has raised a very different suspicion about the case. He claims that his son was murdered somewhere else and that the body was later brought and seated on the driving seat of the garbage vehicle to make it look like a suicide. Family members pointed to marks found around Mukesh's neck and alleged that he may have been strangled before his death, with the scene then arranged to resemble suicide. Sanjay Singh, the in-charge of Cantt police station, said the body has been sent for a post mortem examination, and that further action will depend on the post mortem report as well as facts that emerge during the investigation. Police are currently keeping both possibilities, suicide and murder, in mind as they try to get to the bottom of the case, with the forensic examination and post mortem report expected to play a decisive role.
Questions that remain for the family and the police
The case once again raises questions about the kind of situation couples who marry outside their caste or community can find themselves in, amid opposition from family and society. Mukesh and his wife too had moved away from their families to start afresh in the city, only for this tragedy to strike within two months. The family has said it will not rest until the truth comes out, and will continue to press for a thorough probe. For now, the entire case rests on the police investigation, and only the post mortem report will make clear whether Mukesh's death was a suicide or a murder.
