Women in love marry each other, enter suicide pact

Faced with the thought of one of them being married off soon, two women today ‘‘married’’ each other and allegedly enter...

Faced with the thought of one of them being married off soon, two women today ‘‘married’’ each other and allegedly entered a suicide pact. While Neetu Singh, a college student, died on the way to hospital, Ranu Mishra, a high school teacher, is battling for her life.

Neetu, 20, and Ranu, 22, had known each other for over a year now, said the police. They were found unconscious this evening at Ranu’s house after they reportedly consumed sulphas tablets mixed in a cold drink. Ranu had sindoor on her forehead.

Admitted to Kanpur’s Hailet Hospital around 7 pm today, Ranu told police she had taken Neetu as her husband as Ranu’s parents had fixed her marriage somewhere else. ‘‘We love each other and cannot live alone. No one will understand our relationship,’’ she was heard murmuring in hospital, police said.

Ranu’s engagement was scheduled for tomorrow. Neetu came to Ranu’s house around 5:30 pm and asked Ranu’s cousin, Seema, to fetch two cold drinks. While they gave Seema one of the bottles, both girls went to Ranu’s room with the other, bolted the room from inside.

Almost half-an-hour later, Ranu’s parents broke open the door to find both girls lying motionless with Ranu’s forehead adorned with sindoor. Neetu died on her way to hospital.