Woman accused of killing husband found hanging in jail

Kanpur: A young woman was found hanging in a lock-up within the heavily guarded district police lines in Kanpur on Friday, days after the mysterious death of a doctor inside the toilet of the Lucknow district jail.

Poonam, who was accused of murdering her husband, was found hanging from a hook in her cell in the lock-up of the Mahila Thana (Women Police Station) in Kanpur.

Local police officials said it was a case of suicide though there were four other women inside the lock-up. The women told police that they were sleeping.

"Poonam, who was facing charge of murdering her own husband in collusion with her boyfriend, committed suicide by hanging with the help of her 'dupatta' from a hook on the ceiling of the cell," said Kanpur Superintendent of Police (crime) A.K. Pande said.

Questions have arisen on how Poonam could manage to tie a dupatta on the ceiling and how the four other women remained oblivious to what was going on in the small room.

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Denying any hint of foul play, Pande said: "Poonam was put in the lock-up after we cracked the murder case of her husband Atul Shukla, who was shot on June 22, allegedly by a professional shooter who received a 'supari' (contract) of Rs.50,000 from Poonam's paramour Upendra."

"Apparently, she decided to end her life because she could not face her family and society after her conspiracy to murder her husband got exposed."

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The incident comes soon after Lucknow deputy chief medical officer Y.S. Sachan was found dead inside the Lucknow district jail toil June 22. He was the prime accused in chief medical officer B.P. Singh's murder.

Sachan's family has moved the Supreme Court claiming that the state government was bent upon treating his death as suicide.