RAJBIRAJ, August 5

Puneeta Mandal, 23, of Sakarpura VDC-5, who was found hanging from the ceiling of her house in Saptari on July 29, was murdered, claimed her kin.

Puneeta’s parents Laxman Mandal and Saraswoti Devi, claimed this at a press meet in Rajbiraj on Wednesday.

According to sources, her in-laws had given her tremendous physical and mental torture for the  past few years and eventually murdered her.

She was rushed to Gajendra Narayan Singh Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital after she was found hanging. Later, she was referred to Dharan-based BPKIHS. She died while undergoing treatment at BPKIHS on July 30.

Security personnel said that they could not record any statement from the victim as she never regained consciousness.

Puneeta’s husband Balaram Mandal is employed in Qatar. The victim’s mother charged that Puneeta’s mother-in-law Paniya Devi and brother in-law Parashu Ram had thrashed the victim until she lost consciousness and then hanged her.  She said, “It is not a suicide, rather it is murder. Hence, a probe into the case must be conducted and stern action must be taken against the guilty at the earliest.”

According to the victim’s mother, Puneeta’s family started torturing her physically and mentally soon after she tied the knot with Balaram. She narrowly escaped various assaults several times and came to her maternal house. “They must have murdered her by thrashing her many times,” alleged the mother.

Puneeta’s parents complained that police were reluctant to file an FIR. However, police said investigation was under way and they would proceed with legal action once the post-mortem report came out.