GUWAHATI:
Assam Don Bosco University vice-chancellor Fr. Stephen Mavely, on May 24, was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a well-known businessman and social activist.
The arrest was made on the basis of a suicide note left by the deceased, George Bordoloi, who took his own life at his residence at Hatimurah under Sonapur Police station in Kamrup Metro district on May 23 morning.
As per East Guwahati Police District Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Subhankar Singh, Fr. Mavely was arrested in connection with case No 113/.22 under section 306 of IPC and was picked up for interrogation on Monday evening. He was shifted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) due to his hypertension, and then was formally arrested on Tuesday.
“He was produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate today and the court remanded him to one-day police custody. We will produce him before the court tomorrow again,” Singh said.
In his suicide note, Bordoloi had written, “The court summons issued to me and my son Patrick Bordoloi based on the complaint of Fr Stephen Mavely, VC, Don Bosco University, is a false and fabricated allegation. Accusing us of trespassing and destroying their rubber and coconut trees are highly objectionable. We have never intruded into their campus and as we are always busy with our eco-camp at Hatimurah village which is far away from their campus. Father Steven Mavely should be held responsible for abetting my suicide…”
Earlier, Bordoloi’s son Patrick had told the press that his father committed suicide only because of continuous harassment on the part of the Don Bosco University vice-chancellor, who accused them of felling 800 trees inside the university campus. Patrick claimed that his father was a nature lover who would never cut down trees.
“I along with my father visited Fr Mavely three months back and clarified to him personally that we did not cut any tree. My father even mentioned that if you keep on harassing us, I will have no other option but to commit suicide,” he recalled.
Patrick further alleged that his father was humiliated after receiving the court summons based on a false complaint lodged by the VC for cutting trees inside the university campus.
“My father became very depressed because of the allegation. He was not a greedy person. Everyone knew him as a good person. He was a popular figure, who had built a reputation for himself in the state. The elephant uprooted trees. You can even see the footprints of elephants in which we are accused of felling trees,” he added.