Family suspect in Delhi scribe’s murder

RANCHI - Family members of Nirupama Pathak, a Delhi journalist found dead in her Jharkhand home last week, are suspects in the murder as they are changing their statements frequently, police said.

“We are interrogating the family members who are suspects in the murder. We will arrest them if we get any evidence,” Superintendent of Police (Koderma) G. Kranti Kumar told IANS over telephone. Her family home is in Koderma, around 200 km from here.

“They are frequently changing their statements. First, her mother said she died due to electrocution. Later the family members produced a suicide note and said she killed herself by hanging from the ceiling fan. The post-mortem says she was murdered by smothering. It also revealed that she was 10-12 weeks pregnant,” the official said.

Nirupama, 23, worked as a reporter in a New Delhi-based newspaper. She had come home in Koderma district April 19 and was due to return April 28. But her reservation was cancelled. She was was found dead April 29.

Nirupama was allegedly having an affair with her former batchmate in New Delhi - a relationship her parents reportedly did not approve of.

The 23-year-old had earlier done a diploma from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in the national capital.