Villagers block Mandi road over girl’s death, accuse father of poisoning her

Mandi, September 16

Residents of Passal village in Jogindernagar subdivision of Mandi district today blocked the Mandi-Pathankot highway for some time in protest against the death of an 8-year-old girl. They accused her father of poisoning her. The girl died at the PGI, Chandigarh, yesterday.

The angry protesters tried to lit the funeral pyre to cremate the body in the courtyard of her house at Passal village but the police prevented them from doing so. They demanded police action against her father and later blocked the Mandi-Pathankot highway.

On the complaint of Birbal, a close relative of the girl, the police booked her father Rakesh Kumar, her grandmother Soti Devi and uncle Raj Kumar.

Additional SP, Mandi, Sagar Chander said that a case had been registered against the three persons under Section 302 of the IPC and an investigation was underway. The post-mortem report of the deceased girl was awaited.

He said that the police were collecting evidence and action would be taken accordingly. However, no one had been arrested so far, he added.