He would not have killed himself, says brother of Kerala soldier found dead in Nashik

John Mathew wept inconsolably as he spoke of his older brother Roy Mathew, a gunner who was found hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned Army barrack in Deolali Cantonment in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on Thursday. The discovery came a week after he unwittingly featured in a sting video by a news website that exposed the alleged exploitation of soldiers by their superiors in the guise of the sahayak system practised by the Army, in which jawans assist officers in their domestic chores.

“He told me he would retire next year after completing 15 years in the Indian Army,” John Mathew said of his 33-year-old brother. “He wanted to build his own house. He also planned to complete his graduation after coming back. But he couldn’t fulfil many of his long-cherished dreams.”

The Army has ruled the death a suicide, but John Mathew insisted his brother would not have killed himself. “Why should he take such an extreme step when he had clearly charted out his future plans?” he asked.

Foul play?

The Times of India reported on Friday that the police were investigating whether Roy Mathew was tortured or harassed after featuring in the sting video, which was published by The Quint on February 24 and was widely shared on social media. It showed soldiers walking the dogs of their officers and taking their children to school. The story has since been deleted.

The family, who hail from Karuvelil village in Kerala’s Kollam district, have sought an inquiry into the death.

Roy Mathew had gone missing a day after the video surfaced. That day, he also called his wife, Fini Mathew. “During his last phone call on February 25, he told me about the issues,” she said. “A reporter had met him incognito and asked him about the menial jobs he was doing. The conversation was recorded with a spycamera and aired online. It must have angered his higher officials.”

At the time of his disappearance, the Army had said he had gone AWOL (absent without official leave).

Roy Mathew’s body was in a decomposed state, and media reports said he may have already been dead for three days before he was discovered. The Army will hand over his body to his family on Saturday, said Kodikkunnil Suresh, a parliamentarian from Mavelikkara in Kerala. His funeral is scheduled for the same day in Karuvelil.

A dream

Roy Mathew was 19, in his second year of undergraduate studies at the TKM College in Kollam, when he joined the Army. According to John Mathew, the Army was his ultimate aim. “He used to talk to us about the challenges in the life of an army man,” he said. “He even wanted us to join the armed forces.”

He added, “He trained hard to become a soldier. We all felt happy for him. He was an icon for youngsters in our village.”

Roy Mathew was a role model to his younger brother too. “He was tough and focussed, and I always wanted to be like him but I couldn’t,” said John Mathew, who runs a welding shop. He added that his brother had served in Jammu, Rajasthan and Punjab before the Nashik posting.

The family last spent time with Roy Mathew when he came home for the Christmas holidays in December. “He was very happy and didn’t tell us about the issues at his workplace,” John Mathew said. “He came here on December 3, celebrated Christmas with us and left for duty on December 28.”

His uncle, Thomas Kutty, said Roy was loved by all in his village. “He was always ready to help people in distress,” he said. “He had a special affinity towards military job and he struggled hard to get a job.”

The debate

Roy Mathew was one of four soldiers who figured in the video, which has led to fresh demands to ban the British-era sahayak system under which soldiers discharge the duties of domestic help in the homes of their superiors.

The sting operation has revived the debate that Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh of the 42 Infantry Brigade in Dehradun started on January 12 by posting a YouTube video complaining about the practice. That video had prompted the Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, to recommend to the government to abolish the practice in peace stations, saying it was much abused. However, Rawat supported it being continued in forward areas.

The Navy and Air Force have long abolished the system. But it still exists in the Army, despite a parliamentary standing committee on defence having recommended its discontinuation in 2008, terming it a “colonial hangover”.

It must be seen whether Roy Mathew’s death takes the debate started by Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh forward.