Family Rejects Police Suicide Claim in Ballia Woman’s Death, Seeks CBI Probe

Police in Ballia arrested two men on Saturday in connection with the death of 20-year-old Pooja, found hanging from a tree with her hands tied on March 23 in Sarya Gulab Rai village. The suspects, Lalu Chauhan and Ram Dulare Pooja’s intended groom face charges of abetment to suicide, with authorities alleging she killed herself after her boyfriend blocked her number amid her upcoming wedding, per Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh. A post-mortem report and evidence, including call recordings, support the suicide conclusion, though the investigation continues.

Pooja’s family disputes the police account, asserting she was murdered. Her sister Neha rejected claims of a YouTube tutorial guiding the act, calling it a false narrative, while her father, Dharamraj, a police station watchman, questioned how suicide was possible with bound limbs. An FIR against four villagers, filed after the family’s complaint, has not been strongly substantiated by technical data so far.

Distrustful of the local police, the family demands a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry. Neha emphasized their belief in foul play, and the videographed autopsy showing no external injuries has failed to convince them. The arrests followed Pooja contacting the accused before her death, yet neither informed her kin nor authorities, police said.