A student suicide case in Odisha’s Ganjam district has reportedly led to the arrest of Transport Minister Bibbuti Bhusan Jena’s nephew, on charges of abetment to suicide.
A 20-year-old student of a private engineering college in Ganjam district was found dead in her hostel room on Saturday, police said.
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The accused has been identified as Biswajit Jena, 24, the minister’s nephew. He was allegedly in a relationship with the deceased woman, a Bachelor of Computer Applications student.
In the hostel room, where the woman was found dead on Saturday, there were five people – the deceased, her sister and three of her roommates. A case has been registered at Golanthara police station on charges of abetment to suicide against Biswajit Jena, and an investigation has been opened into the complaint of the deceased woman’s uncle, the police were quoted as saying.
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Senior police officers, including special police, visited the crime scene, and the scientific team and an executive judge also visited the site.
According to the complaint filed by the deceased student’s uncle, Biswajeet Jena was also a BCA student in the same college.
The police said that the exact cause of the woman’s death will be ascertained after receiving the forensic report. He added that investigations are ongoing and appropriate action will be taken.
The minister, the defendant’s nephew, or any of his family members did not make a statement about this incident.
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The suicide case has reverberated in the political corridors of Odisha with the opposition BJD demanding immediate arrest of the accused. “The police should arrest the accused, irrespective of his connection with the minister. The law should take its own course,” said BJD’s former Ganjam district president Ramesh Chandra Ayaw Patnaik.
BJP Ganjam district president Saroj Sabat said the police were investigating the case.
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides can be prevented. If you need support or know someone who does, please contact your nearest mental health professional.
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