(If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)
A woman and her two daughters consumed poison, on Tuesday, 24 May, in the presence of police personnel in their house in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, after the police allegedly misbehaved with them.
While Geeta, the mother, and one of her daughters Preeti, succumbed to the poisoning while being treated in a hospital in Meerut on Thursday, the other daughter Swati died on Wednesday.
Geeta’s husband Mahak Singh has filed an FIR, including under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code, against Chhaprauli Police Station incharge Naresh Pal.
Also named in the FIR are a man called Kantilal and his two sons, who had formerly filed a complaint against Singh’s son Prince and are alleged to have accompanied the police team to Singh’s residence when the said incident took place.
But What Had Happened?
On 3 May, an FIR was lodged against 24-year-old Prince, under Section 366 (kidnapping, abducting and inducing woman to compel her marriage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), after Prince, and Kantilal's 22-year-old daughter had reportedly gone missing together.
According to The Indian Express, Kantilal’s family is Dalit and Singh is an OBC from iron-smith caste.
On Tuesday night, the Chhaprauli police arrived at Prince’s home but nobody opened the door. Thereafter, police made their way into the house through the roof of their neighbours and started to look for the man. However, only Prince’s mother and sisters were home.
During the course of all this and amid alleged torture by the police, the woman and her daughters allegedly consumed poison. Following this, they were rushed to Chhaprauli’s CHC Hospital and subsequently, in a serious condition, to Meerut’s Subharti hospital.
Mahak Singh has said that he will end his life if no action is taken. The family was also refusing to perform the last rites until a case was registered against the station incharge and others.
(With inputs from Hindi Quint and The Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)