Husband killed in fake encounter, depressed wife ends life

Shivangi Yadav, 25, wife of Pushpendra Yadav, who was allegedly shot dead in a fake encounter in October 2019, committed suicide in Jalaun sometime on Tuesday evening. Her body was found hanging from a ceiling hook at noon Wednesday when family members broke down the door, police said.

She had scribbled on her palm that she was fed up.

On the orders of the Allahabad High Court, eight police officers are facing trial for allegedly killing Yadav in a staged encounter. Circle officer, Kalpi, Dr Devendra Pachauri said the police had asked forensic experts to match the handwriting. The body has been sent for post-mortem and police are investigating the death.

Shivangi's family members claimed that she was depressed because of the inaction against the police officers named in the FIR. Shivangi, who was the complainant in the FIR, which is being investigated by the CB-CID, named the then SHO of Moth police station Dharmendra Singh Chauhan and seven other police officers.

According to Ravindra Yadav, Pushpendra Yadav's brother, his brother was murdered in cold blood for failing to meet the monetary demands of Chauhan and others. Pushpendra was a transporter and his car was seized by the police. He spoke to Chauhan, who asked him to pay ₹50,000 for his release, Ravindra said. Pushpendra went to the police station on 5 October 2019 and spoke to his wife over the phone. The next morning, the family learned that Pushpendra had been killed in a fake encounter.

The death set off a series of widespread protests in the Jhansi district after which the court ordered the registration of an FIR. Ravindra said that Shivangi, who got married four months before the encounter, was fighting for justice in court. She became depressed when she failed to take action against the officers, he said.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted about Shivangi's death and said that making someone commit suicide is actually murder.