Woman dies by suicide, alleges rape in note

The police have registered a case of rape and abetment to suicide against the man with whom the deceased had a relationship.

Over a week after a 33-year-old woman was found dead at her residence in south-east Delhi’s Jaitpur, police on Thursday registered a case of rape and abetment to suicide against the man with whom she had a relationship, after recovering a suicide note from her person during inquest proceedings.

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Investigators said in the note, the woman alleged that she was forced into a physical relationship by the man for eight years, on promise of marriage, and was made to undergo 14 abortions during that period.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Esha Pandey said a case has been registered under sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 376 (rape), and 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police said on July 5, the control room received a call from a man who said his woman tenant had died by suicide at her home in Arpan Vihar, Jaitpur. When police reached the spot, they found the woman hanging and immediately shifted her to AIIMS, where doctors declared her brought dead, a senior officer said.

They said the woman, who hailed from Bihar, was living in Delhi for many years after her marriage. She was separated from her husband since the past seven to eight years and her minor daughters were living with her until recently, when they were shifted to their school hostel.

During autopsy proceedings, police said a suicide note was recovered from among her clothes. In the note, she named the man she was involved with -- his name is withheld to protect the victim’s identity -- and said he forced into a physical relationship for eight years on the pretext of marriage but recently refused to marry her and left her with no option but to end her life. She also said the man made her undergo an abortion 14 times in eight years and she was wrecked by that.

DCP Pandey said that raids are being conducted to the arrest man named in the note.

The woman’s family alleged that police did not inform them about the suicide note before they handed over the body. “If the doctor had found the note the day the post-mortem was conducted, why did the police not inform us? We called the women’s cell on Wednesday after which we received a call from them stating that an FIR is being registered and that a note has been recovered,” the woman’s 26-year-old brother said.

The brother, however, said neither he nor his family were aware of the suspect or his sister’s involvement with him. All he could say was that the man “was a distant relative of her estranged husband”.