Suspended Dalit IAS officer seeks permission to die

Madhya Pradesh's suspended Dalit IAS officer Shashi Karnawat on Wednesday wrote to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and sought permission to die, saying she was facing injustice since she was from the weaker section of society.

The woman officer said she remains suspended from service for the last three years.

"I have met the Chief Minister many times in three years but to no avail, despite assurances. He gives assurances but does not have the will to act on his assurances," Karnawat told IANS.

The officer said she was assured of suitable action in her case by Chouhan on July 14, but nothing happened and hence she did not want to live any more.

Karnawat said she was seeking the permission to die since she was not very sure of getting justice from the state government.

In 2013, a Mandla district court had sentenced Karnawat -- promoted to the Indian Administrative Service in 1999 -- to five-year imprisonment in a graft case. She was then placed under suspension.

The officer later moved the high court to challenge her conviction and got bail. -IANS