Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written a heartfelt letter to Amneet P Kumar, wife of senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who died by suicide on October 7, allegedly due to caste-based harassment and discrimination by senior police officers in Haryana.
Kharge condemned the systemic injustices that led to Kumar’s death, saying the officer ended his life “battling social prejudices and disparities.” He called the incident a grim reminder of the failure to protect those entrusted with upholding justice.
“In my long life, I’ve witnessed many tragic events, but this one,caused by entrenched bias and discriminatory thinking, has deeply pained me,” Kharge wrote.
“While we take pride in planting the flag on the moon, we have failed to empower those meant to reduce people’s suffering.”
He extended full support to Amneet in her fight for justice and assured her that the questions raised by her late husband “will reach a decisive conclusion.”
Puran Kumar, 52, a 2001-batch IPS officer, was found dead with a gunshot wound in the basement of his Chandigarh residence. He was serving as Inspector General at the Police Training Centre in Sunaria, Rohtak.
His wife, a bureaucrat, returned from Japan, where she was part of a Haryana government delegation and lodged a complaint alleging “systematic persecution” by top officers.
A purported suicide note blamed eight senior police officials, including Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur, for caste-based discrimination, harassment, and humiliation.
The incident has sparked outrage and demands for a high-level probe.