Angul: A 13-year-old girl allegedly died by suicide at Sakhi One Stop Centre within district headquarters hospital in Odisha’s Angul on Saturday morning, a day after her 21-year-old boyfriend was found hanging in his house in neighbouring Dhenkanal district.
The girl, a resident of Samakoi village under Angul Sadar police station limits, was found hanging in the bathroom of the centre using a scarf. She had been placed at the Sakhi Centre for protection, care, and counselling after being rescued by police following her boyfriend’s death.
The tragedy follows the alleged death by suicide of Benupani Sahu on Friday.
According to sources, th
e duo had allegedly eloped and travelled to Mumbai a few days earlier. The girl’s father lodged a missing person complaint on April 8 after she went missing on April 1. Angul Sadar police registered a case and questioned Benupani’s family members, including detaining his mother, Ashanti Sahoo, for questioning.
Benupani returned from Mumbai with the minor girl on April 24 and reportedly appeared before police, who asked him to produce her formally. Fearing arrest and social stigma amid the investigation into the elopement, he allegedly hanged himself with a rope at his residence at Baliratnapur village under Motanga police station limits in Dhenkanal shortly after returning home. His body was recovered from the room.
Following Benupani’s death, police rescued the girl and shifted her to the Sakhi Centre in Angul for safety and monitoring. On Saturday morning, she went to the bathroom on the pretext of attending to nature’s call and did not return for some time. When staff and others checked, they found her hanging, the sources added.