Ludhiana: 14-year-old found hanging in house she worked in; kin say ‘rape, murder’

Amid sloganeering, police used mild force to push back the protesters who were demanding an entry inside the house where the body was found. The protests also turned violent as protesters started throwing stones on police vehicles and an ambulance that came to ferry the body for autopsy.

Tension continued to grip the area till the filing of this report as extra forces were deployed in migrant colonies apprehending law and order problems.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ludhiana police commissioner Kaustubh Sharma said that the house owner had informed the police in the evening that the girl, who worked as a domestic help at their place, was “found hanging from the ceiling.”

“The employer informed that she had died by suicide. When the police reached the spot, the body was hanging from the ceiling,” said the officer. He said that “no external injury marks or any signs of scuffle or force were found prima facie.”

Police tries to control the protesters after the death of domestic help at Upkar Nagar in Ludhiana on Monday.(Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)

“There are no external injury marks or any signs of force or scuffle. But we will wait for the autopsy report to know the exact cause of death. As per the house owner, the girl had come around 2 pm and went upstairs. When she did not come downstairs by 4 pm, they checked and found her hanging,” said CP.

He said that the body was sent for autopsy and an FIR was being registered on the statement of the girl’s family at division number 8 police station. “The protesters who gathered outside the house, have been alleging that she was raped and murdered. We are probing all possibilities. However, protesters turned violent and unruly. We will wait for the autopsy report for further action,” said CP.

“Additional forces have been deployed in sensitive areas to maintain law and order,” he said.

Meanwhile, the girl’s family members who were protesting outside the house said that if police fail to “get them justice”, then “the entire Kanpur will gather in Ludhiana and take law in their own hands.”

“We are not going to keep quiet and simply believe what the police are saying. When we saw the body hanging inside, she was bleeding from mouth and it was clear that the body was hanged artificially after murder. Entire Kanpur will gather here if Punjab Police fail to book the owner,” said the girl’s uncle.