The woman, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, allegedly died by suicide last week at her Bhopal residence in Bagh Mugalia Extension.

The death of a woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal has unleashed an ugly blame game between her in-laws and parents, with the former suggesting that the deceased was a schizophrenic as well as a drug addict and the latter calling the claims as defamation of a person who is not there to defend self.

The woman in her 30s, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, allegedly died by suicide last week at her Bhopal residence in Bagh Mugalia Extension. Her family, however, alleged foul play, pointing to injury marks on her body. They claimed she said she was assaulted by her husband.

Since her death, several developments such as her husband’s disappearance, a CCTV footage purportedly of moments before her death and purported WhatsApp chats where she expressed frustration over situation at her marital home have raised questions over the events that led to the alleged suicide.

Ugly blame game
The mother-in-law of the deceased, a retired judge, spoke to media on Monday and Tuesday, claiming that within five months of the marriage, she noticed the woman held liberal views. She alleged that upon confirming her pregnancy on the 17th, the woman’s behaviour changed drastically as she refused to keep the child. According to her, the woman was found self-harming that evening.

“Her parents never came to see her during the last five months. They were earning because of her looks and are now not allowing her cremation. I have faith in the investigating agencies and in the truth,” said the mother-in-law and retired judge on Monday.

“Within five months, I realised that she held quite liberal views… on the 17th [May], the moment she received confirmation of her pregnancy, her entire demeanour changed; she declared that she did not want to keep this child… that very evening, when I returned home from the office, I saw that she was in a terrible state; she was physically beating herself. She kept crying out, ‘I cannot go on living like this!’… I told her, ‘If you truly wish to leave, we can arrange your ticket for tomorrow so you may depart with dignity’… We do not know where she had gone in the night… I also asked her mother. She also said that she does not know about this… She acts entirely on her own whims, taking steps that are completely reckless and impulsive…,” the mother-in-law claimed while speaking to media on Tuesday.