Jagendra Singh, a social media journalist, was burned alive by Uttar Pradesh Police for making a facebook post against Ram Murti Verma, a state minister in Uttar Pradesh and a powerful Samajwadi Party politician in Shahjahanpur.
On 30th May, Jagendra Singh posted a series of facebook post accusing Ram Murti Vera of gang-raping a nursery worker with his henchmen and forcibly grabbing large tracts of land. He also accused him of high-level corruption. The following day police raided his house and burnt him alive in front of his son.
After social media outrage and Amnesty International and other human rights organisations picked up the issue, Verma was arrested with other policemen including chief Sri Prakash Rai on charges of murder. Till now no charges of rape have so far been brought over these allegations.
Officers initially claimed Singh committed suicide when they tried to arrest him but in a statement recorded just before his death, Jagendra said that it was Sriprakash Rai, the local police chief, had poured kerosene on him and set him ablaze.
It is quite astonishing to see the silence of Indian media on the issue even when their own colleague was burnt alive while International Media has picked the issue vigorously and demanded an investigation.
