The probe into the death of Nirupama Pathak took a dramatic turn on Friday with a court here asking the police to slap criminal charges — including rape and cheating — on her boyfriend, Priyabhanshu Ranjan.
The police are also looking at the suicide angle, though the post-mortem report has suggested she was smothered to death — in an apparent honour killing.
Nirupama’s mother Sudha has been arrested in connection. It was on her petition that the chief judicial magistrate, Koderma directed the police to file charges against Ranjan.
Nirupama, who was working for a Delhi-based newspaper, was found dead at her Jhumari Tilaiya residence in Jharkhand’s Koderma district on April 29.
Investigations revealed that her parents had opposed her plan to marry Ranjan, as he belonged to a different caste. The autopsy report had also concluded that she was pregnant at the time of her death.
Koderma Superintendent of Police G Kranthi Kumar said a case has been lodged with the Jhumari Tilaiya police. A police team has already questioned Ranjan and some other friends of Nirupama in Delhi.
Two other police teams were sent to Gonda, UP and Mumbai — the work places of Nirupama’s father and brother, respectively, to check their alibis.
{{/usCountry}}Two other police teams were sent to Gonda, UP and Mumbai — the work places of Nirupama’s father and brother, respectively, to check their alibis.
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