More than a month after a 17-year-old girl committed suicide allegedly because of constant harassment by a neighbour, her family is grappling with a double whammy. Not only is the accused at large despite a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) being issued against him, members of his family have also created an environment of fear by threatening to kill the victim’s family if the case is not taken back.
The Class XII student, resident of a rented accommodation in Bakhtawarpur village, hit the headlines after she penned lines such as “there are boys wherever I go” and “People of Delhi are not letting me live’ in her suicide note of March 23.
Her family alleged that a 20-year-old neighbour, Mayank, used to stalk her and also forced her to be in a relationship with him.
The police had registered a case under section 306 (abetment to suicide) and POCSO Act against Mayank, however, the investigators are yet to arrest him.
Returning from High Court appearance for proceedings, the victim’s 50-year-old father, on Monday, said that they were threatened with life by Mayank’s family in April andasked to take back the case.
“In the first week of April, the man’s grandfather and father stopped us near our house. Both of them said that they would would kill us if we did not withdraw the case. They also roughed me up,” he said.
Following this, the victim’s father made a PCR call after which a case under section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) was registered against Pankaj, Mayank’s father, and grandfather Rattan Singh.
Mr. Pankaj sought anticipatory bail but Mr. Rattan was arrested and sent to judicial custody for a couple of days, the police said. He was later released on bail, they added.
The police had also arrested the landlord of the victim’s family Daya Ram who had allegedly threatened the family to vacate the house around the time of the incident because he allegedly sided with the accused’s family.
“We are now living in the same house because we had approached the police and they took action against him,” the father said.
However, because of the threat, the 50-year-old said that he has stopped going to Azadpur and Ghazipur mandi where he used to work before the incident.
“I worked in the mandi at night but after the threat, I cannot afford to stay out leaving my two sons and wife alone. Now, I work as a daily wage labourer earning ₹ 120 a day,” he said.
DCP (Rohini) Rajneesh Gupta said that the police have obtained a NBW against Mayank and are trying to trace him through all means.
The accused’s family had sought anticipatory bail which was rejected by Sessions court. Now, they have approached the High Court and proceedings are under way.
‘Unable to sleep’
“I have been visiting the court and Begumpur police station every other day but that man has not been arrested. I am unable to sleep properly ever since by daughter died,” the father said.
