New Delhi:
A 23-year-old woman who was four months pregnant, allegedly committed suicide after her stalker - who had been harassing her for the last few months - called up her husband and claimed to be the father of her unborn child. The incident has been reported from the Jaitpur area of southeast Delhi.
Delhi police have arrested the accused from Jammu and Kashmir. Cops have kept the foetus for a DNA test with the accused's samples as well. Police said they will book the stalker under sections of rape if the DNA report proves his claim.
"The accused, Pinto Kumar Jha, claims to be a former assistant manager at Kotak Mahindra Bank's Lajpat Nagar branch. An FIR under Section 306 of IPC has been lodged against him. Police are waiting for the DNA report to book him for rape," said a police official.
Ajay Chaudhary, additional commissioner of police (southeast) confirmed that Jha has been arrested and is in police custody. On July 31, Shruti committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling in a room of her Jaitpur house. A police source said she had an argument with her husband who received a phone call from the accused.
"Jha told her husband that he is only her husband while he (Jha) is the father of her unborn baby. Jha said that both (he and Shruti) worked in the same organisation and had an affair for a long time. Shruti was questioned by her husband in this respect after which she committed suicide," said a police source.
Love gone sour
The police source said Shruti and the accused are natives of Bihar and used to work together at Kotak Mahindra Bank's Lajpat Nagar branch. Shruti's family members fixed her marriage with someone else. When Jha came to know about her marriage, he asked her to refuse the match, but Shruti spurned his advances. She then got married according to the will of her parents. Jha then started threatening Shruti over the phone. He used to call her daily and would ask her to sever ties with her husband.
Shruti approached the police to complain against Jha in July. Cops tried to catch the accused but he fled to Assam and then to several other states. Jha had known that the cops were after him. He then started using different phone numbers to threaten Shruti and her husband. After making a call he would switch off his phone," said the police source.
Driven to deathAccording to reports on July 31, Jha again called her husband and said he was the father of Shruti's unborn child. When Shruti came to know about this she killed herself. On August 1, police lodged an FIR against Jha based on the deceased's suicide note. Meanwhile, the accused again made a call to her husband.
"His cellphone was put on surveillance. Police came to know that he is in Jammu and Kashmir. Immediately, a team was sent and Jha was nabbed. Police will take his DNA test now," said the police source.