Mumbai: 21-year-old girl commits suicide, parents blame police for torturing her

On Saturday, 21-year-old girl a Third Year BCom student committed suicide at her residence in Ghatkopar. A day before the suicide, Madhuri Nirbhavane was questioned by the Tokawade police for five hours in connection with a murder investigation.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, Madhuri Nirbhavane’s parents — Ramesh and Sandhya– have alleged that the Tokawade police tortured her due to which she took her life. Madhuri’s mother has also demanded the CCTV footage of the police station when she was being questioned for five hours. Madhuri did not answer the door on January 20, when her father returned home. He saw her hanging through the window, broke the locked door.

The police questioning

The police, on January 18, had visited Madhuri’s home in Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar and served notice under CrPC 160 to the family, where she was required as a witness in a murder investigation for a case registered at Tokawade police station. So, first she went Pantnagar police station with the Tokawade police team. And, on January 19, she went to Tokawade police station with her mother and a distant relative.

Madhuri also requested police to allow her to record her statement at Tokawade police station and not at Pantnagar police station. The police agreed to her request.

DC Pore, assistant police inspector, Tokawade police station told Mumbai Mirror, “On January 5, the murder of Gopinath Kesarkar, 55, came to light in our jurisdiction. The main accused, Ghatkopar residents Mohan Soshte and Faizal Shaikh, have been arrested. In their call-data records, we noticed that Soshte was in constant contact with Madhuri, both before and after the murder. Along with another woman, the four of them had even gone to Goa after the murder. The hotel room was booked in Madhuri’s name, and the Ola cab was also booked from her account and her phone. We called her to take her statement as her name came up in the statement of the main accused.”

The officer further added that Madhuri’s name was not mentioned in the FIR, till date and there was no evidence that she was directly or indirectly, involved in the crime. The officer further claimed that Madhuri in her suicide note had said ‘sorry’ to the Tokawade police.

Family blames the police for torture

Madhuri’s parents who are daily wagers have three daughters and Madhuri was the second among the three. Sandhya (Madhuri’s mother) told the leading daily, “I was waiting outside for more than two hours when my daughter was inside Tokawade police station for questioning. I asked the police what was happening. They said my daughter was not cooperating. Then, after four or five hours, they let her go and called her on Sunday. My daughter told me they had beaten and threatened her. If only we could see the CCTV footage, we will be able to prove the torture. They called her again on Sunday with another friend. The police are saying she might have been in contact with the main accused, but how does that allow the police the right to beat her? She wasn’t part of the crime.”

But the Tokawade police have refuted the torture allegations and asked her parents why Madhuri was traveling to Goa and Bangalore frequently. On which, Madhuri’s family had said that as she was working in catering company, she used to travel. The Pantnagar police have confiscated two of Madhuri’s mobile phones and also two dupattas, which she allegedly used for hanging herself.