Man awarded five years' RI in Dalit woman suicide case

Nearly three years after a Dalit woman took her own life, a court in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday found a man guilty of abetment of suicide and sentenced him to five years' rigorous imprisonment (RI). Dilip Ghosh, the lawyer engaged by the woman's family, said that they were contemplating an appeal before a higher court as the convict was not found guilty of rape.

Nearly three years after a Dalit woman took her own life, a court in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday found a man guilty of abetment of suicide and sentenced him to five years' rigorous imprisonment (RI). The woman, a second-year college student, set herself on fire in her residence at Rajatpur on December 9, 2017 after being blackmailed and sexually exploited by Sheikh Hafijul, a mason, according to a complaint lodged with Bolpur police station.

She succumbed to her injuries three days later at a hospital in Kolkata. The mason, who was working at their house, had taken her photos using his mobile phone while she was bathing and used these to blackmail her, prosecution lawyer Tapan Das submitted before the court.

Additional district and sessions judge Kallol Kumar Das sentenced Hafijul to five years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,000 after finding him guilty of abetment of suicide. Dilip Ghosh, the lawyer engaged by the woman's family, said that they were contemplating an appeal before a higher court as the convict was not found guilty of rape.