Soldier found dead after accusing senior officers of harassment in TV interview

An army jawan from Kerala was found dead near his camp in Nashik, barely a few days after he accused senior officers of harassment, his family members said on Friday.

The body of gunner Roy Mathew was recovered on Thursday near his camp in Maharashtra.

Though the army believes it to be a case of suicide, family members of 33-year-old Mathew said they suspect foul play. They have demanded a probe into the circumstances leading to his death.

The alleged suicide comes amid of a spate of allegations of poor working conditions and harassment faced by jawans in the



armed forces.

Roy went missing on Monday, a day after calling up his wife at Kollam to say that he had made a “big mistake”, an apparent reference to an interview he had given to a local television channel accusing senior officers of mistreatment at the Nashik camp.

His interview to a Marathi language channel was aired on Monday.

Though the channel had promised to keep his identity a secret, Roy told his wife, his senior officials came to know about it. Roy’s wife, Fini Mathew, said after the call he was incommunicado for last three days.