Nirupama Pathak’s Parents Arrested for Questioning

In a suspected case of ‘honour killing’, the parents of a Delhi woman journalist Nirupama Pathak, who was found dead in Jharkhand, have been arrested today morning for questioning, reported PTI.

“We have taken the parents of Pathak for interrogation in connection with her murder,” Koderma police superintendent Kranti Singh was quoted as saying.

However, Singh declined to comment if it was ‘honour killing’ saying that probe was still going on, report said.

He said that police was also on lookout for other family members and friends, who are suspected to have played a role in the killing, said report.

Nirupama’s post mortem report released yesterday revealed that her mysterious death was a case of murder as it confirmed the death due to ‘asphyxia as a result of smothering’, report said.

Singh said that the family members had misled the police by first claiming that she died of electrocution and that though the incident had taken place at Tilaya in the morning, the police were informed by the evening, said report.

The report also confirmed that a ligature mark was formed around her neck as she was strangulated with a rope after she died.

Nirupama, who worked in Delhi, was found dead at her family home in Jharkhand last week. She was asked to return home to visit her mother on the pretext that she was sick.

On April 29, her family called the police to say she had been found hanging in her bedroom.

On Monday, her father told a TV channel that while he is opposed to inter-caste marriages, his family played no role in the young journalist’s death.

He said that he had no idea why the post-mortem for his daughter showed she was murdered.

The man who Nirupama wanted to marry said to the same TV channel that she had shared her distress over being emotionally blackmailed by her family into changing her mind about being with him.

However, he said that he was unaware that she was in any real danger at home.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked for the case to be handled by a fast-track court.