RAJBIRAJ: A 17-year-old from Saptari has died by suicide as the village council pressurised her and her family to not file complaint against perpetrators that had gang-raped her.

The deceased's mother has alleged that her daughter, who was a rape victim, killed herself, as the village council pressured her not to complain to police.

The mother, a resident of Ward No 17 of Saptari’s Dakneshwori Municipality, lodged a first information report with the Area Police Office, Kalyanpur on Wednesday accusing four youths of raping her daughter.

She has alleged that Dharam Mandal, Bablu Mandal, Ranjit Mandal and Bishnu Mandal took turns to rape her daughter while she had gone to the field on Monday morning.

“When we sought justice from the village council, we were pressured to settle the case at the village level by accepting compensation from the accused. We were warned against lodging a police complaint.

They rubbed salt into her wounds, forcing her to hang herself on Tuesday,” the mother lamented.

All the four alleged rapists have fled Kalyanpur following the victim's death.

A police team from Saptari District Police Office reached the village and brought the girl’s body to Rajbiraj on Tuesday evening. The post-mortem was conducted at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan. Following the post-mortem, her mortal remains was handed over to her kin, on Wednesday, police said.

According to Inspector Santosh Khadka, a police team found shards of broken bangles from the site.

Satya Narayan Mandal, Basudev Mandal and Jayakanta Mandal, who were involved in the village gathering organised to effect a compromise, have been detained.

“We have begun investigation and are searching for the accused. The post-mortem report will give us a clearer picture about the incident,” said District Police Office information officer, DSP Tilak Bharati.

Having lost her husband four years ago, mother of the deceased was providing for her family by working as a tenant farmer.