While one girl died by suicide on learning she was pregnant, the other killed herself on being kept away from the boy she loved.
Police said it was a suspected case of suicide (Creative Commons)
In a heart-wrenching development, two teenage girls — both victims in POCSO cases — died by suicide in separate incidents reported from Mandya and Tumakuru in Karnataka.
On Friday, 26 January, a 15-year-old girl in Mandya reportedly took her own life after discovering that she had been impregnated by her neighbour who had sexually assaulted her. He is currently on the run.
A day before that, on 25 January, a 17-year-old girl in Tumakura reportedly ended her life at a rehabilitation centre because she could not live with her lover, who was earlier arrested for rape.
Impregnated by rapist
In December 2o23, a case was registered against the 15-year-old girl’s neighbour for molesting her. Soon after the case was registered, the man went on the lam.
The girl, a Class 9 student, recently became ill and a medical examination revealed that she was pregnant. When asked, she said that the absconding neighbour had impregnated her.
Earlier, however, the girl did not reveal to the magistrate or the police that she had been raped.
The victim lived with her relatives in Mandya, while her parents live in Kodagu district. She pleaded with her relatives not to tell her parents about the pregnancy or report the case to the police. Shortly thereafter, she died by suicide.
Her parents reportedly told the police that she had been depressed after learning about her pregnancy. No death note or messages to family or friends were found, investigators said.
After the girl’s death, the police added a rape charge against the neighbour and intensified their search for him. The girl’s viscera and the foetus were sent for scientific examination.
In the second incident, a 17-year-old girl ended her life at a state-run rehabilitation centre in Tumakuru.
A suicide note found in her room said that she had been forced to stay at the centre despite her wish to live with the boy with whom she was in a relationship.
The police said that the girl had been in a consensual relationship with the boy, but he was arrested since she was a minor.
Tumakuru Police Superintendent KV Ashok told South First that the girl had run away from her home in Tumakuru, and was traced in Mysuru and brought to the rehab centre.
On Thursday, while other residents of the centre were watching TV on the first floor, the girl sought the warden’s permission to return to her room where she reportedly took the extreme step.
The incident came to light during the lunch hour and the police were immediately alerted.
“We found a note in which the victim had written that she did not like to stay at the hostel and that was the reason for ending her life,” SI Ashok said. Her body was handed over to her family after a postmortem examination at the Tumakuru District Government Hospital.
The police said that a case was registered against her lover at the All-Women Police Station in Tumakuru, based on her family’s complaint a few years ago. The case was mid-trial when she ran away from her home to Mysuru, where her friend had been working.
May 03, 2024
May 03, 2024
May 03, 2024
May 03, 2024
May 03, 2024
May 03, 2024
