Barred from wearing sari for Ganeshotsav, 13-year-old schoolgirl ends life in Pune

Pune, September 22

Tragedy struck a Pune family on Ganeshotsav day when their little daughter was barred from sporting a sari and she later committed suicide, police said here on Friday.

It was on Ganesh Chaturthi day (Sep. 19), when the girl, Sushmita P. Pradhan, 13, reportedly threw a tantrum and insisted on welcoming the Lord Ganesha by wearing a sari.

However, her mother firmly refused to oblige her desire, after which the angry girl locked herself in a bathroom.

When she did not emerge for quite some time, the girl’s elder sister knocked on the bathroom door but there was no response.

They managed to peek in through a window and saw Sushmita hanging by a scarf in the bathroom after which they broke open the door.

The Pradhan family rushed her to a local hospital where she was declared dead on admission, plunging the entire neighbourhood into gloom on the auspicious day.

Investigating Officer, ASI Ashish Jadhav said that the Dehu Road Police Station has registered an accidental death report and is investigating the matter further, though no arrests have been made so far.

Described by her friends as a chirpy, outgoing and cheerful girl, Sushmita was a student of Class VII at the Shree Shivaji Vidyalaya in Dehu Road area of Pune.