Guwahati: LGBTQ+ activist and Assam’s first trans judge Swati Bidhan Baruah found herself in the soup after allegations of abetment to suicide were labelled against her.
The allegations were raised by family members of one Mansur Alam after his body was recovered from the bathroom of his residence in Guwahati’s Pandu area in the wee hours of March 1. Alam’s family members allege that Swati was psychologically abusing him to marry her which forced him to take the drastic step. Many also gathered outside Jalukbari police station along with Alam’s body demanding Swati’s arrest.
“It is not known whether he was killed or died by suicide. Someone does not step out of their home to kill oneself. But he took the drastic step in the bathroom. He even switched off the lights. He was also beaten the day before yesterday. The boy’s home is connected to Bidhan’s residence. Now, we do not know whether he died by suicide or Bidhan killed him. But now our boy is lying lifeless in here. Until Bidhan is brought here, we will not allow the body to be moved,” said a family member of Alam.
Alam’s family members also alleged that Swati had even filed a complaint accusing him of rape following which he was arrested. Further investigation into the matter is currently underway.
Swati came into the limelight in 2012 after getting the nod from the Bombay High Court to undergo a sex change. The activist shot to fame when she became India’s third and Assam’s first trans judge in 2018.
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