Dalit law student Somnath Suryawanshi died in Parbhani custody in December 2024; no FIR was registered until the Bombay High Court ordered one in July 2025, despite a magisterial inquiry holding police responsible

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Somnath Suryawanshi, a law student reported as 35 years old by one outlet and 24 by another, was detained on December 11, 2024 after protests over the desecration of a Constitution replica in Parbhani and died on December 15, 2024. Police said he collapsed in custody; his mother disputes that account. A magisterial inquiry concluded on March 20, 2025 held police responsible for his death, and the post-mortem recorded 24 visible external injuries and 'shock due to multiple injuries'. As of April 2025 no FIR had been registered. On April 29, 2025 the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court questioned a police-led inquiry as proceeding with a preconceived notion, and on July 4, 2025 it ordered an FIR registered within a week on his mother's complaint. A later SabrangIndia report says the Supreme Court upheld that directive (reported as July 30, 2025) and that an FIR for murder (Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) was registered at Mondha police station on August 1, 2025 against unidentified police personnel.

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