Journalist death: Boyfriend faces rape charge,questioned

A Jharkhand court today ordered police to file cases of rape,fraud and abetment of suicide against Priyabhanshu Ranjan,the boyfriend...

A Jharkhand court today ordered police to file cases of rape,fraud and abetment of suicide against Priyabhanshu Ranjan,the boyfriend of Nirupama Pathak,the Business Standard journalist who was found dead in her parents home in Koderma on April 29.

Nirupamas family was opposed to her relationship with Priyabhanshu,who belonged to another caste. They claimed Nirupama had killed herself,but the autopsy report said she had been smothered to death,and that she was 12 weeks pregnant at the time.

Priyabhanshu was questioned by officers of the Jharkhand and Delhi Police in two phases for a total of over 10 hours on Thursday evening and Friday. They asked him about his relationship with Nirupama,the messages they sent each other,and who he suspected was behind her death.

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Responding to a complaint filed by Nirupamas mother Sudha Pathak,the Chief Judicial Magistrate,Koderma,N K Agrawal told the police to lodge a case under Sections 376 (rape),420 (fraud) and 306 (abetment of sucide) against Priyabhanshu. Sudha had alleged that Priyabhanshu raped Nirupama after promising to marry her,made her conceive,become pregnant and (ultimately) take the extreme step of committing suicide.

Sudha,who was arrested for Nirupamas murder on May 2 after she gave conflicting statements on how her daughter died,had produced what she said was Nirupamas suicide note. Subsequently,she filed a complaint against Priyabhanshu,and pleaded for permission to take part in the shradh ceremony scheduled for May 9,10 and 11.

The court provided Sudha relief and ordered the police to let her out of jail on parole.

During his questioning by officers including Investigating Officer Inspector Shiv Prakash Singh of Jharkhand and Delhi Police Deputy Commissioner (South) H G S Dhaliwal,Priyabhanshu maintained he was unaware of Nirupamas pregnancy.

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We asked him if he thought Nirupama was capable of committing suicide. We went through his messages and call details and asked him about them. We asked him if her pregnancy could lead her to commit suicide, said a senior police officer.

Priyabhanshu,a journalist with PTI,was questioned from around 5.30 pm to 10.45 pm on Thursday,and then again from around 12.30 pm to 6 pm on Friday at the office of the Special Staff (South) in Pushp Vihar. His mobile phone was seized. A south Delhi officer said Priyabhanshu might,if needed,be taken to Koderma as well.

Priyabhanshu told The Indian Express on Friday,The officers questioned me about calls that were made from my mobile phone between March 19 and March 29. They had the call details and asked me which phone number belonged to whom. They also tried to cross check if I was giving the same answers that I gave yesterday.

The Jharkand police brought Nirupamas post mortem report to the capital to determine its authenticity. The report has been submitted to a panel of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences for examination.