MidDay

Mumbai, Mar 5: Vartak Nagar police claim to have solved the mystery behind the death of Babita Jha (17), a Std XI student of R J D Thakur College, Thane. Babita allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison as her family did not approve of her boyfriend, the police said.

Babita died on February 28 and her family alleged that a classmate, who was jealous of her good marks, had poisoned her.

However, during investigation, the police found a completely different angle to the story.

“We interrogated some of her friends and got to know about her relationship with Amir Shaikh. Babita belonged to a Brahmin family and they didn’t like her having relations with a Muslim boy. Babita told them several times that she wanted to die,” said senior police inspector B Bhosale.

Earlier too, Babita had tried to commit suicide, the inspector said.
“Babita’s friends told us that eight days before her death, she tried to jump from the college terrace but they managed to stop her,” said Bhosale.

“She was depressed and wanted to end her life,”
he added. 

The police said Babita consumed poison in her house and the entire theory of a classmate poisoning her was false.

“College records say Babita was present in college on the day of the incident,” the inspector said.

“We interrogated all her friends and no one said anybody was jealous of Babita,” added Bhosale.

The police will question Shaikh, Babita’s alleged boyfriend, and her family members. The police are waiting for the post-mortem and chemical analysis report to know the actual cause of death.

“We have almost completed investigation and are waiting for the forensic reports. We will crack the case very soon,” he added.