When 22-year-old New Delhi-based journalist Nirupama Pathak fell in love with her batchmate from Delhi’s Indian Institute of Mass Communication, she never thought it would end like the stories she’d come across in her job.
On April 29, Nirupama was found dead at her home in Koderma, Jharkhand. Her family said she had committed suicide but the police believe it may have been a case of honour killing. On Monday, the police took Nirupama’s parents into custody for interrogation.
“We have evidence that she died due to suffocation that was caused by a pillow that was pressed over her face. We are questioning Nirupama’s parents,” Koderma police superintendent Kranti Singh said.
“The parents were frequently changing their statements. First, her mother said she died due to electrocution. Later the family members produced a suicide note and said she killed herself by hanging from the ceiling fan. The post-mortem says she was murdered by smothering. It also revealed that she was 10-12 weeks pregnant,” Singh said.
Nirupama’s parents, according to the police, were against Priyabhanshu Ranjan, the man who Nirupama wanted to marry, because he was from a lower caste.
“I am determined to take the fight to its logical conclusion and get justice for her,” Ranjan told DNA.
“She called me on April 28 to say that her train ticket was cancelled and that she was kept under constant watch. She said I must forget her,” said Ranjan, who is a journalist in the capital.
In Delhi, Nirupama’s friends met National Commission for Women chairperson Girija Vyas and sought harsh punishment for her killers.
“We are interrogating the journalist's father and brother,” the police superintendent said.
Vyas said the NCW had “sought a detailed report from the Koderma police about the death of the girl."
