Engineering student jumps to death after shoplifting slur: Police

4 flatmates of Ritu Yadav booked for abetment of suicide

A DAY after being confronted by flatmates for allegedly shoplifting, a 19-year-old engineering student jumped to death from her rented seventh floor apartment in Greater Noida Wednesday, said police.

The police have registered a case of abetment of suicide against four students who lived with the victim, Ritu Yadav. She was a first year Computer Science student at Galgotias College of Engineering at Technology in Greater Noida.

At about 6 am Wednesday, a security guard at SDS Residency, picked a mobile phone which had fallen on the ground seconds ago. “As he looked up, he saw the girl (Yadav) sitting on the terrace railing. Before he could react, she jumped off and fell on the first floor balcony. Shocked at what he had witnessed, he could not move. Another guard rushed to him and then the police were informed,” said another security guard at SDS Residency.

A ‘suicide note’ found on Yadav’s body alleged her flatmates and their friends used to torture her, said police. According to the note, Yadav was also hit with a beer bottle by a friend of one of her flatmates, police added.

Yadav was living with four others in the apartment for the last couple of months. Her father, who arrived from Kanpur, said, she used to stay in a hostel with the other four girls and they had moved to the flat. He said he had received a call from one of his daughter’s flatmates Tuesday, asking him to come to Greater Noida as soon as possible. “I was not told what the issue was.”

According to the police, Yadav was allegedly involved in a shoplifting incident on April 16. “These girls had gone to a supermarket. Ritu Yadav picked up a bottle of skin toner but did not pay for it. The shop owner saw her doing this on CCTV footage. Yesterday, three of her flatmates went to the same store. The shop attendants told them about the shoplifting. They were told to ask Ritu to return the stolen product or a complaint would be lodged against her with the police,” said a police officer. While no shoplifting complaint reached the police, Yadav’s friends allegedly confronted her Tuesday evening. “They called her parents after that,” the officer added.

Express Ritu Yadav, 19, jumped from the seventh floor.