Were it not for the tragic circumstances of his death, Y Puran Kumar would have been seen as an example of social mobility and of the upholding of the Indian Constitution’s promise of equality. He was a Scheduled Caste (SC) Indian Police Service officer of the Haryana cadre; his wife, Amneet P Kumar, is an SC IAS officer, and his brother-in-law is an MLA in Punjab. On the face of it, Kumar and his family had reached the upper echelons of government and politics. His suicide and the eight-page note he leaves behind, which alleges systemic discrimination, including by senior IPS officers, however, casts a shadow on that image. It also raises disturbing questions about entrenched biases that cramp and distort institutional spaces. These questions must be addressed, not evaded.

The allegation

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