This Article is From Feb 24, 2010

Passport trouble drives Jaipur teen to suicide

Jaipur: When 19-year-old Nisha met an Indian boy from Spain for an arranged marriage, she couldn't wait to leave her hometown of Jaipur to begin her new life with her fiancée.

Her parents had one condition - the marriage would not take place unless Nisha managed to get a visa to Spain. So the teenager made that her main focus.

What she needed first was a passport, which she applied for under the "tatkal" or fast-track scheme. The documents she submitted had to be verified by the head of her neighbourhood police station. That officer met Nisha repeatedly, but refused to sign off on her paperwork.

Nisha's family says he was looking for a bribe.

One week passed. By this time, Nisha had just two days left to submit her documents for her passport, failing which, she'd have to start from scratch.

Tense and depressed, she killed herself by taking sleeping pills on Monday evening.

Angry relatives and neighbours stormed the police station on Tuesday morning demanding action. The police officer who dealt with Nisha, Station House Officer Vir Singh Shekhawat, has been suspended and charged with abetment of suicide.

We have removed him from this post and the inquiry into this case will be given to an officer of a different circle," says Biju George Joseph, the Superintendent of Police, Jaipur.

Two years ago, this very police station in Shipa Path, won an international award for being India's best and most-responsive police station.
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