3 of family held after help sets herself ablaze

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Malwani division) Musa Shaikh said,“Pinki,who was known to the family’s relatives in Assam,came to the city six years back after her mother passed away and her father remarried. Arijit told Pink’s relatives that she could stay with them since there was no one to look after her in Assam.” According to the police,the family did not allow her to study and forced her to do household chores. They would often beat her up and abuse her.

“On March 14,when Arijit and Sukanya were out for work and Jayjeet was sitting with a family relative Durbha in their living room,Pinki walked out of the house with a kerosene can,” Shaikh said. She went to the sixth floor and allegedly poured kerosene and set herself on fire. After experiencing pain,she rushed back to the house. Durbha then took her to the bathroom and tried to douse the flames.

Shaikh added,“Despite repeated requests,Jayjeet refused to call for medical help. It was only after an hour the victim was rushed to a hospital where she was declared dead.”

Initially,the police had registered a case of suicide but after some neighbours informed the investigators about the alleged ill treatment,the police conducted further enquiries and arrested the trio on charges of unlawful compulsory labour,abetment of suicide and several sections of the Juvenile Justice Act. The trio was produced in the court on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody. “Victim’s medical reports reveal that she had been sexually abused,” said a police officer.