Rakhi Sawant booked in connection with man’s death

LUCKNOW - Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district Friday registered a criminal case against Bollywood item girl Rakhi Sawant in connection with the death of a young man who had featured on a reality show hosted by her, an official said.

Lakshman Prasad, 24, a resident of Jhansi’s Prem Nagar town, who appeared on reality show “Rakhi Ka Insaaf” was so upset by the reportedly “indecent remarks” made against him by Rakhi Sawant on the show that he stopped eating and died Wednesday, his family has alleged.

“Acting on the complaint made by Lakshman’s family, we have booked Rakhi Sawant under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 306 (Abetment to Suicide) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace),” police inspector A.K. Singh told reporters in Jhansi, some 300 km from Lucknow.

“In the complaint, the family has squarely blamed Rakhi Sawant for Lakshman’s death. On the directions of senior police officials, an enquiry has been initiated in the case and further action would be taken on the basis of the enquiry,” he added.

According to Prasad’s mother Savitri Ahirwal, Sawant had termed her son “impotent” while trying to settle the dispute between him and his wife on the reality show.

“My son was so upset with the indecent remarks that he stopped meeting any outsiders or neighbours, who used to laugh at him referring to the remarks by Rakhi Sawant… They (neighbours) had seen the show and how that girl (Sawant) referred to my son as ‘namard and napunsak’ (impotent),” Ahirwal told reporters Thursday, a day after Prasad died.

“Upset over the remarks, my son went into acute depression and even stopped eating food… He gradually became weak and frail and ultimately died yesterday… No one other than Rakhi Sawant is responsible for the untimely death of my son,” she added.

According to the family members, in October Prasad along with his wife Vineeta and her family had appeared on ‘Rakhi Ka Insaaf’, in which Sawant plays the role of a judge and announces verdicts in cases of domestic violence, marital discord and others.

“Our main objective was to settle the dispute between Lakshman and his wife Vineeta. We would have never opted for the show if we knew that the girl (Sawant) would ill-treat Lakshman in such a manner on national television,” said Balbir Ahirwal, Prasad’s maternal uncle.

Prasad and Vineeta were married in February 2010. A month after the marriage, they started living separately following discord.