Staff Reporter
NIRJULI, 24 Oct: The police here have registered a case over the death of a 19-year-old youth, identified as Gomchu Yekar.
Yekar died by suicide on Thursday evening and in his suicide notes named former Itanagar Capital Region deputy commissioner Talo Potom and Likwang Lowang, an executive engineer in the Rural Works Department, as being responsible for his death.
Lowang also died by suicide in Khonsa a few hours after news of Yekar’s death broke.
The police have registered a case against both Potom and late Lowang under Sections 108, 271, 272, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which include provisions related to abetment of suicide.
Meanwhile, senior police officials confirmed that they have started searching for the whereabouts of Potom, an IAS officer who is currently posted as special secretary, PWD, under the Delhi government. “Police teams are looking for him in various locations where he is expected to be present. So far he is hiding and is yet to turn himself in to the police,” said an official.
Earlier, the father of late Gomchu Yekar had filed an FIR at the police station here, giving a detailed account of how his son was forced to take the extreme step by Potom and late Lowang.
According to the FIR, Yekar was allegedly coerced into participating in illegal activities, humiliated repeatedly, and then abandoned.
In the suicide notes, which were shared with The Arunachal Times, Yekar accused both men of “sexually exploiting” and harassing him over an extended period, claiming that prolonged humiliation, coercion, and threats had pushed him to take his own life.
“The reason for my death is Talo Potom (IAS). If he hadn’t recruited me in the post, I wouldn’t have committed suicide. Because of him, I did those things, and there is no way left of living,” one of the suicide notes read.
The notes further described alleged intimate relationships, claims of manipulation, financial assurances, and subsequent threats. One note mentioned that he had contracted HIV, and accused one of the officials of abandoning him and blackmailing him.
Yekar also wrote that he was “promised one crore rupees in financial help, which was later denied,” and that he was threatened with “destruction of life” if he spoke about the abuse. “If I die, it will be because of him. Please give me justice,” he wrote.
Earlier, responding to the allegation, Potom told this daily that there was no truth in the allegation. “All false. Nothing is truth,” he said.
(For anyone struggling with mental health issues, trained counsellors are available 24/7 at the national toll-free numbers 14416 or 1800-891-4416.)
