17-year-old girl kills self after blackmail threats in Khurda

Bhubaneswar: A 17-year-old girl died by suicide late on Friday in Nirakarpur area of Khurda district after a man she knew, threatened to upload her intimate photos taken with him on social media.
While the man, who was identified as Sajjad Saha, is on the run, cops arrested six members of his family, including his parents and two sisters, for allegedly abetting the minor girl’s suicide. The family members of the accused stay near the girl’s village, police said.
According to the complaint filed by the mother of the plus 2 student on Saturday, the youth and his family had been harassing her for the last two years.
“A month ago, Sajjad lured my daughter and took her to his house. With the help of our villagers, we rescued her. After the incident, he and his family had been harassing my daughter,” the FIR read.
The parents of the deceased alleged that Sajjad and his family had been forcing her to marry him. They allegedly threatened to defame her if she did not marry him.
“We were not ready for the inter-faith marriage proposal from Sajjad. My daughter too had no interest in the proposal. On Friday afternoon, Sajjad along with his family members came to our home and scolded us. He threatened that he would circulate my daughter’s photos on the internet. My daughter was scared and depressed,” her mother said, adding: “We do not know how he got my daughter’s photos.”
After having her dinner, the girl cried and locked herself in a room, triggering fear in the mind of her parents. When they broke open the door with the help of some neighbours, they found her lying unconscious on the floor. A bottle of poison was found near her. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
“We have arrested some of the accused. The exact motive of the suicide is being ascertained. Investigation is in progress,” Khurda SP, Siddharth Kataria said.