Bhopal: A 19-year-old student pursuing Bachelor of Pharmacy allegedly committed suicide by hanging in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district Tuesday, three days after a case of rape was registered against him by a 22-year-old woman.
The student, identified as Gaurav Verma, was in his second year at Indore’s Aurobindo College. The 22-year-old woman was his teacher at an English-speaking class in Indore’s Anna Nagar.
Gaurav’s family has alleged that the woman was blackmailing him and had demanded Rs 5 lakh from him, of which Rs 45,000 was paid and a compromise was reached Tuesday.
Speaking to the media, Pooja Verma, Gaurav’s younger sister said, “I was in office when my brother called me and said that he has been in a relationship with the woman for 11 months and now she is blackmailing him despite everything happening consensually. When I called the woman, she said she was at the police station, but when we reached there, she was not there,” Pooja told the media.
According to Pooja, a few days later, the woman came to their house and demanded Rs 5 lakh, stating that she will register a case against my brother for clicking her nude pictures and threatening to circulate them.
The woman subsequently gave an application to the police against Gaurav. However, later, a compromise was reached.
“A compromise was reached and she took Rs 45,000. We tried to tell the police that the woman is blackmailing us and there are chats as evidence which prove our case, but the woman officers instead threatened us that they will book my brother,” alleged Pooja.
“Had they just heard our brother out and considered his side of the story, things would be different,” Pooja said.
Speaking to the media, Kaushalya Chouhan, in-charge of women police station said, “The two were friends and after some monetary transaction, they reached an agreement and made an affidavit to that effect in court. After this, yesterday, the woman gave an application saying that she does not want any police action in the matter. And two of them left the police station subsequently.”
But when Pooja reached home Tuesday night, she found Gaurav hanging from the ceiling fan of their house.
After his death, Gaurav’s family briefly protested outside the police station in Indore Wednesday.
Speaking to ThePrint, Ram Snehi Mishra, Additional DCP Indore said, “The matter is being looked into by Additional Commissioner of Police for Women Security Priyanka Dudve and the allegations made by the family and other evidences will be taken into consideration and action will be taken against those found guilty.”
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