New Delhi: An Uttar Pradesh court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Rakhi Sawant in connection with the 2010 suicide of Lakshman Ahirwar.
The warrant was issued after Sawant repeatedly failed to appear before the court.
Ahirwar appeared on Sawant’s reality television show Rakhi Ka Insaaf (2010) to discuss a marital dispute.
The show had only one season and 16 episodes that originally aired weekly on Imagine TV. Modelled after Western shows such as The Jerry Springer Show (1991-2018), Rakhi Ka Insaaf featured confrontations and live arbitration of personal, social, and marital disputes brought before Sawant.
During one of the episodes, Ahirwar appeared with his wife, Anita.
What was Lakshman Ahirwar’s case?
Ahirwar married Anita in February 2010, but soon the couple began facing marital problems. Anita returned to her parental home following disagreements between them.
In an attempt to resolve their dispute, the couple appeared before Rakhi Sawant. The episode aired on 23 October 2010.
According to the complaint filed by Ahirwar’s mother, Savitri, Sawant insulted her son during the episode and called him “naamard” (impotent).
His family said that being humiliated in front of his wife and on national television caused him severe distress. They claimed that the statement damaged his reputation and that he struggled to cope with the humiliation after returning home.
Ahirwar died by suicide in November 2010, within weeks of the programme’s broadcast.
However, in November 2010, Jhansi police officials told The Indian Express that Ahirwar had died of a high fever and that the case had nevertheless been registered based on his mother’s allegations.
The connection between Ahirwar’s death and his appearance on the show is yet to be determined by the courts.
Why has the case resurfaced after 16 years?
District Government Counsel (Crime) Mridul Kant Srivastava told PTI on 17 October that the Additional District and Sessions Judge of the Fast Track Court issued a non-bailable warrant after Sawant repeatedly failed to appear before the court.
The next hearing is scheduled for 1 December.
A non-bailable warrant authorises the police to arrest the person named and produce them before the court. It does not mean that bail is legally impossible. The accused may seek appropriate relief through the judicial process.
For Sawant, the immediate concern is that the warrant could be executed if she does not secure its recall or obtain relief.