Unable to withdraw money from a bank to buy a dress and book railway tickets to attend her relative’s marriage in Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), a Class IX student allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan of her residence in South-west Delhi’s Palam village area on Thursday evening.
According to police, the deceased has been identified as Pooja, 15. Pooja’s mother Sumitra told The Pioneer, “I work as a maid in a few houses. I was standing in a queue outside the Oriental Bank of Commerce on the Palam Road area on Thursday since 10 am. Waiting in line till 3pm, my turn did not come. So Pooja, who returned from school, came and took my place. However, she could not withdraw the money so she returned home by 5pm.”
Sitting in a one room house with her three other daughters, Sumitra said, “When I came home by 7 pm, my youngest daughter told me that Pooja had locked herself since 5 pm. When she asked Pooja to open the door, Pooja said she is sleeping and does not want to be disturbed. However, at around 7 pm, finding something is amiss, I somehow managed to forcefully open the door and found that Pooja was hanging with the help of a dupatta from the ceiling fan. She was dead.”
A police officer, privy to the investigation, said the incident was reported at the Mahavir Enclave on Palam road when a few beat constables spotted the victim’s family carrying her body to the cremation ground. Upon enquiry, they found that the girl had committed suicide.
Based on which, police sent the girl’s body for post-mortem to a nearby hospital mortuary. Jagram, the victim’s father, works as a labourer while Sumitra, works as a domestic help.
Sumitra said due to demonetisation, she and her husband did not get their salaries on time and henceforth, were going through financial crunch.
“In the preliminary investigation, it appears that the girl asked her mother to buy a dress for the wedding of her relative. As her mother refused to give her the money, she allegedly took the extreme step of ending her life,” said a senior police officer.
Police said they have initiated a probe under Inquest Proceedings of Section 174 of the CrPC. Further investigation is underway.