Bihar: 4 girls ‘die by suicide’ over ‘parental rebuke for returning from school with boys’

The girls belonged to Saidpur village under Amzhar Sharif panchayat under Haspura police station in Aurangabad district

Five girls, all minors and said to be hailing from the Mahdalit community, consumed poison after they were allegedly “scolded by their parents for returning with boys of their school”, resulting in death of four, the Aurangabad police said on Monday while investigating the case of “deaths by suicide” of four of these five girls.

Bihar: 4 girls ‘die by suicide’ over ‘parental rebuke for returning from school with boys’

The girls belonged to Saidpur village under Amzhar Sharif panchayat under Haspura police station in Aurangabad district.

The police said one of the girls, who survived and is under treatment at a district hospital, told the police this during recording her statement.

She said that all the girls consumed pesticide procured from one girl’s house in an agriculture field of the village, the police said.

Interestingly, the police came to know of the incident three days after the incident on January 29 and by the time all four dead girls were already cremated.

For the investigation, Magadh range IG Kshatranil Singh, along with senior officials and FSL team, visited the cremation ground, where they found only one partially burnt pyre. “Normally one would expect four pyres. In this case, it was only one. It remains unclear which girl’s body was cremated there, with no clear information available as of yet, as the deceased’s family members and co-villagers feigned ignorance,” said a police officer.

The matter came to light late on Saturday evening and by then last rites had been performed. When the senior police officials reached the village, the locals, mostly women and children, refused to speak. No male member of the family came forward to talk to the police, said a police officer.

As the journalists visited the house of the deceased, it was locked. Villagers said that the surviving girl had left her family. The village is completely deserted. No one is saying anything, which is causing problems in the investigation.

“An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The truth will be out after the full investigation. The father of the girl, who is said to be alive, has not appeared before the police and is said to be out of the village at the moment. All the angles are being looked into,” IG Kshatranil Singh added.

Aurangabad SP Ambrish Rahul said that an FIR has been registered with the Haspura police station against unknown persons on the basis of the statement of a police chowkidar.

“Our investigation is focussing on what led to the incident, how was the poison procured, who all were there at the site of cremation?” he said.