Woman kills self in Punjab, blames panchayat members

PHAGWARA: A 40-year-old woman hanged herself at a village in Nakodar town near Jalandhar after recording a video in which she accused some panchayat members of forcing her to take the extreme step, police said on Friday. The incident took place on Thursday evening in Bajuha Kalan village near Nakodar, they said.
The deceased was identified as Rajani, said Vinod Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Sadar, Nakodar.
He said the victim shared the video moments before she took the extreme step and as it started circulating on social media, police came to know about it. They rushed to the village, only to find that the woman had already hung herself from the ceiling fan of her room after tying her 'dupatta' around the neck, he said.
In the video, she tearfully accuses four people, with whom she had a dispute, of driving her to suicide, he said.
"Rajani says in the video that some panchayat members had forced her to take the extreme step and she had no choice left except to die," the SHO said.
On learning about her death, her family members and other relatives, including a large number of women, protested outside the Nakodar police station on Friday, refusing to take the body till the accused were arrested.
However, protesters relented after a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against four accused, including a woman sarpanch, police said.
The body was handed over to the relatives of the woman after post-mortem, the SHO said. COR SUN CK