Woman dies as her car overturns while trying to escape from eve-teasers at Panagarh

PTI, PANAGARH, FEB 24, 2025 :  A 27-year-old event management professional was killed in an accident while trying to escape from eve-teasers who were chasing her in another vehicle in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district, police said on Monday. The victim, identified as Suchandra Chattopadhyay, a resident of Chinsurah in Hooghly district, was travelling with three colleagues to Gaya for a function when the accident took place at Panagarh around 3 AM. Two of the other passengers sustained serious injuries, police added.

According to a senior police officer, the group had just refuelled at a petrol pump when a white car with five occupants began following them. "As soon as they got onto the highway, the men in the other car started making lewd remarks towards Suchandra and began driving recklessly," the officer told news agency PTI. The vehicle then dangerously pinned Suchandra’s car toward a road divider, causing it to overturn. Suchandra, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered fatal injuries. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead, the officer said.

As soon as Suchandra's car met with an accident, the five occupants of the other car fled the scene, abandoning their vehicle. Police have seized both the cars. An FIR has been filed at Kanksa police station, the officer said.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the five men were consuming alcohol while driving. "We found glasses inside the car with traces of alcohol," the officer said, adding that the owner of the vehicle has been identified as a resident of Panagarh. A search operation has been launched to locate the suspects, and Suchandra’s body has been sent for post-mortem.