STALKED AND HARASSED BY MEN, 17YROLD GIRL ENDS LIFE
NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl hanged herself from a ceiling fan at her house in outer Delhi’s Bakhtawarpur village on Friday after she was allegedly stalked and sexually harassed by a man in her neighbourhood.
The teenager left behind a suicide note, hinting at harassment by some local men, but the police and her kin identified a 21-year-old neighbour as a suspect.
A part of her suicide note read: “Idhar jaao toh ladke, udhar jaao toh ladke, meri zindagi kharaab kar rahe the taaki main kuch na kar sakoon,” (Wherever I go, I find men. They are destroying my life so that I cannot do anything).
The Class 12 student mentioned that her death would save her family from eviction. Her parents alleged when they raised the harassment issue with the suspect’s parents, they retorted by compelling them to vacate their rented two-room set.
Rajneesh Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini), said a case of abetment to suicide and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered at the Alipur police station. “We are making efforts to nab the suspect,” the DCP added.
The parents of the suspect dismissed the allegations and claimed he had nothing to do with the girl.
The landowner, a relative of the accused, said that the girl’s family was asked to vacate the house because they hadn’t been paying the rent on time.
Hindustan Times is withholding the name of the suspect to protect the identity of the victim.
The girl belonged to a migrant family of five from Bihar. Her parents run a shop and work in the fields. She aspired to become a policewoman and had been training hard for it, said her mother. “When my daughter would go out jogging in the morning, that man would chase her, offer to train her and take the opportunity to touch her inappropriately,” her mother alleged.
The girl complained to her parents on Tuesday morning after he allegedly called her to meet him alone in the early hours of Tuesday.
“Offering to get her a job with Delhi Police, he said he would marry her. But when she refused his offer, he threatened to kill her family,” her father alleged.