Roy Mathew, an army jawan who was featured in a sting operation by a news website criticisng and exposing the Sahayak system, was found hanging from the ceiling in mysterious circumstances in Deolali Cantontment area.
A report in the Hindustan Times say that although the army believes it to be suicide, family of Roy Mathew suspect foul play and have demanded a probe. His wife has reportedly told the newspaper that Mathew called her up a day before going missing on Monday and told her that he has made a 'big mistake'.
Roy Mathew who has worked in the army for 13 years had reportedly given an interview to a Marathi language channel, which was aired on Monday. He had allegedly accused senior officers of mistreatment at the Nashic camp in the interview. Though the channel had promised to keep his identity secret, some officers came to know about it and since then, his wife hadn't had any communication with him, says the report.
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According to a Times of India report, the doctors said that 33 year old Mathew might have died about 3 days ago, considering the decomposed state of the corpse.
In a video circulated on social media last month that criticised the 'Sahayak system', Mathew was one of the several jawans doing menial tasks from walking the officers' dogs to cleaning their shoes and taking their children to school.
The British era colonial 'Sahayak' system requires a jawan to serve a commissioned officer. The army is the only service where combatants serve officers.
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The alleged exploitation of soldiers in the video of which Mathew was a part created an uproar on social media and he was facing an inquiry after the sting was posted online.
Sources say that Mathew had run away from his artillery unit on February 25 ever since after the video got viral. The army had reportedly told the newspaper that he has been on an AWOL ( absent without official leave).
