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MP Congress MLA booked for abetment of woman’s ‘suicide’ at his bungalow

The Congress leader said he had lost a ‘dear friend’ in the death of the woman. Her son told police that his widowed mother met Singhar on a matrimonial website in September last year.

Updated on: May 18, 2021, 10:59:12 IST
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Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA and former state forest minister was booked for abetment of suicide on Monday after a 40-year-old woman was found dead at his bungalow in Bhopal on Sunday. An FIR under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against Umang Singhar on the basis of his recorded conversations/chat history with the woman and her son’s statement, police said.

The house help at the Congress leader’s Shahpura bungalow first discovered the body and informed the police. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The house help at the Congress leader’s Shahpura bungalow first discovered the body and informed the police. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bhopal’s deputy inspector general of police, (DIG), said the woman and the MLA had planned to get married but she decided to end her life instead due to regular fights with the politician.

“The woman had been living in the MLA’s bungalow for the past 20 days while he was visiting his assembly constituency of Gandhwani in Dhar district,” additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rajesh Bhadoriya said.

He added that the house help employed at the Congress leader’s Shahpura bungalow first discovered the body and informed the police. Police claimed it recovered a suicide note from the woman’s articles accusing Singhar of anger issues and lack of clarity on some matters.

Statements of the woman’s 20-year-old son, her mother and the Congress leader, have been recorded.

Her son told police that his widowed mother met Singhar on a matrimonial website in September last year and they decided to get married. An engagement ceremony was held in December last year.

“They met many times in Bhopal and at the woman’s home town in Punjab in the past few months. Recently, she told her family she was in depression due to regular fights with Singhar,” the ASP said. Singhar is separated from his wife.

MLA said it was heartbreaking for him to lose such a “dear friend”. “I am cooperating with the police in the investigation but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government is doing dirty politics on this [issue].”

BJP leader and MP home minister Narottam Mishra said the police will take further action on the basis of investigation.

  • Shruti Tomar
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shruti Tomar

    I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More