Police Harassment Alleged Behind Suicide Of Minor Girl In Jagatsinghpur 

Tension ran high at Habeli village under Palli Panchayat of Jagatsinghpur district on Monday following the suicide of a minor girl due to alleged intimidation and harassment by police.

The minor girl was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her house today morning. Her parents are absconding in connection with a pre-Panchayat poll violence case.  

The relatives of the girl said that she had been staying at her home with her two minor sisters in the absence of her parents. However, some police personnel repeatedly visited their house in search of their parents and threatened her, they alleged.   

It is alleged that the girl took the decision to end her life last night as she was fed up with the repeated harassment by the police.

Following death of the girl, her relatives along with locals staged a road blocking protest on the Balibhaunri-Sikharghat road by burning tyres. 

Reportedly, a scuffle had broken out at Habeli village on the previous night of the Panchayat elections and a police vehicle was vandalised. The police registered a case and started rounding up people involved in the fracases. 
So far 8 to 10 persons have been arrested and the parents of the deceased are among those named as accused in the case.

“Last night, police personnel knocked on our doors. When we did not open the door in fear, they threatened to pick us up the following morning. We fell asleep and do not know when our elder sister hanged herself. We woke up to find her hanging to the ceiling fan,” said the sister of the deceased. 

Jagatsinghpur SDPO Ramesh Singh said, “The parents of the girl are wanted in a case and absconding. In the absence of the couple, their three daughters were staying in the house. The girl committed suicide after sending her sisters to pluck flowers.” 

On allegations police harassment, the SDPO said the police have not raided the village for the past 11 days. The police raided the village for the last time on March 3. 

Though the police reached the spot, the road blockade was not withdrawn till the filing of the report.