Koderma (Jharkhand):Jharkhand and Delhi Police teams jointly quizzed three common friends of Nirupama Pathak and Priyabhanshu Ranjan over the former's mysterious death at her home in Koderma last month. Following a Jharkhand
court directive, the state police has lodged a complaint against Priyabhanshu,
the boyfriend of the deceased Business Standard scribe. The court directed the
police to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Ranjan, following charges
levelled by Nirupama's arrested mother Subha Pathak. Speaking to the media, Koderma
Superintendent of Police, G Kranthi Kumar on Saturday said that an FIR was lodged
by the police last evening and investigations are on. Taking cognisance of Subha
Pathak's petition, the Chief Judicial Magistrate N K Agarwal has asked Tilaya
Police to file the FIR under IPC Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 376 (rape),
506 (criminal intimidation) and 420 (cheating) against Priyabhanshu Ranjan. Twenty-two-year-old
Pathak was found dead on April 29 in her parents' house. Nirupama's mother has
described her daughter' death as a suicide case. However, the post-mortem report
revealed that Pathak died due to asphyxia as a result of smothering. A 10 to 12
week-old foetus was also found during the autopsy. Suspecting the death to be
a case of honour killing, the police had arrested Subha.
