Mumbai/Nahsik/New Delhi: Lance-Naik Roy Mathew, a 33-year-old army Jawan from Kerala, who had criticised the army orderly system better known as 'Sahayak System' and was missing since February 25, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Thursday.
A day after the dead body of Roy Mathew was found, Indian Army claimed that he committed suicide because of a "guilt factor of letting down superiors" in an interview during the secret operation by a Marathi language channel.
Multiple media reports said Friday that Roy Mathew's body was found in an abandoned barrack in Deolali Cantonment in Maharashtra in a decomposed state.
"Preliminary investigations have revealed that it may be a result of a series of events which were triggered by media personnel managing to videograph (Roy) by asking questions on his duties without his knowledge," an army statement said.
"It is likely that the guilt factor of letting down superiors or conveying false impression to an unknown individual led him to take the extreme step," the army statement said.
Mathew hailed from Karuvelil, in Kollam, Kerala, and was posted as an orderly attached with a colonel at the Deolali School of Artillery.
Mathew in his last conversation with his wife said to have told that he had inadvertently spoken ill of the orderly system in the army to the journalist who had secretly recorded the conversation.
"He called me about what was being shown on the TV channels and was crying. I told him that everything will be alright and not to worry. After that I tried calling him again but his phone was switched off. I need to know what happened to my husband," said Roy's wife Fini, demanding for justice.
In the secretly recorded video, Mathew had reportedly said that higher officials allegedly mistreated their 'Sahayaks', and forced them to do petty jobs like polishing shoes, washing clothes and taking their pet dogs for walks.
Mathew's video surfaced after another BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav questioning the Prime Minister on removing corruption from the system. In a video posted on social media, Yadav also questioned the poor quality of food served to Jawans.
Meanwhile, the Congress today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using army jawans for political gains but turning a blind eye to their needs and demanded a probe into the mysterious death of jawan Roy Mathew, according to PTI.
"We demand the government should order a fair probe that why Tej Bahadur and Roy Mathew were harassed and intimidated after they raised their concerns. We ask the government to order a fair probe into the death of Roy Mathew," he said.
"Indian National Congress strongly objects to any kind of politicisation of the Army defence forces - but sadly the government of the day uses the Army only for its political gains and does not want to address their pain," he said.
Referring to the video, he said it reflects the "failure" of the government to address the concerns of the army jawans.
He alleged that for past two-and-a-half years, a trend has been seen that "this government is only addicted to praise and does not want to take any kind of criticism or questions".
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