Suicide pact of six friends, one survives - Girl speaks of youths who wanted to elope with them & taunts of villagers about friendship

TT, Jhargram, Feb. 24: Six girls who were close friends aged between 13 and 19 allegedly consumed pesticide yesterday evening and five of them died, their hands tied to each other with dupattas.

The only survivor told newspersons from her hospital bed that they all drank the pesticide on their own, which hints at a pact to commit suicide. In two separate accounts, she cited elopement proposals by some youths to three of them, and villagers' taunts about their friendship.

One of the girls, aged 19, was to get married on March 5. The family of a prospective suitor was to meet another girl in the group today. Both died.

Srabanti (name changed), the survivor, said: "One of the girls who died had told the group of friends that a youth of the village had proposed to her. Another youth had proposed to another girl in the group whose marriage was to be held on March 5. One youth had also proposed to me. All the youths had said they would elope with us. But we discussed among ourselves and decided that we will not go anywhere. We will die in this village. That is why we decided to drink poison."

A doctor at Jhargram district hospital, where the girls were first taken yesterday, said Srabanti had mentioned that villagers taunted them about their friendship.

The doctor said the girl had told him: "Some villagers taunted us about our group. They used to ask us what we were up to, always going around together."

The girl, however, did not mention this when she spoke to journalists today.

Of the six girls, the one who survived and another friend were in Class IX. The rest were school dropouts.

The families of the two girls who were about to get married said the two had never objected to marriage. They also confirmed that the six girls were good friends and always stayed together.

The grandfather of the girl whose marriage had been fixed on March 5 said: "We had arranged for her marriage as she had grown up. We never imagined that she would commit suicide," he said.

The mother of the girl said: "We used to be surprised because we have not seen such friendship in our lives. My daughter's marriage had been fixed. Another girl is supposed to get married soon. We don't understand why they always stayed together when some of the girls in the group were as young as 13 or 14."

The father of the other girl, who was supposed to meet the family of a prospective groom, said: "We were looking forward to my daughter's happiness. We cannot understand why she did this."

Among the girls are two pairs of cousins. The other two girls are unrelated.

A police officer in West Midnapore's Jamboni, where the village is located, said that after speaking to villagers and relatives they had come to know that the girls had gone to a village fair on Shiv Ratri recently where they had met some youths.

"At a village fair on Shiv Ratri, the prospective groom of the girl who was supposed to get married on March 5 had come with some of his friends. They were seen speaking to the girls. We are trying to find out whether there is any connection," the officer said.

The police, however, said they could not figure out why all the six girls decided to take such a drastic step.

Grocer Gopal Khuntia, who was the first to be alerted by the surviving girl, said: "Around 5.45pm yesterday, one girl staggered to my shop and told me 'uncle they have all taken poison. I also drank the poison'. The girl then collapsed to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth."

Khuntia said: "I shouted for help and ran to the nearby CRPF camp and alerted them."

He said the girls had tied each other's hands with dupattas.

Khuntia said all six were taken to Jhargram district hospital.

At the hospital, five of the girls were declared dead on arrival.

A CRPF jawan who had gone to the spot said: "When we went there, we found several plastic glasses and a bottle of water. There was also a packet of Kurkure (a snack). At a distance, the five girls were lying, with foam coming out from the corners of their mouths. Their hands were tied together with dupattas."

Chameli Bhuniya, a 15-year-old girl from the same village, said the six were inseparable.

"The girls were very close to each other and always moved in a group. They did not seem interested in boys. They used to roam together and attended village fairs and festivals together. I have tried to become friendly with them several times but they would not include me in their group. They also sometimes stayed together at night in each other's homes during fairs and festivals," Chameli said.

Villagers said the girls were from poor families. Their parents worked either as labourers or picked Sal leaves and firewood.

The inspector-in-charge of Jamboni police station, A.K. Bagdi, said: "We are unsure why the girls took such a drastic decision."

Another police officer said they were waiting for the surviving girl to recover to answer questions.

She is now in Midnapore Medical College and Hospital. Her condition was said to be stable.