Lovers’ suicide sparks row in Bhiwandi

By Pradeep Gupta (Exclusive)

A family’s objection to a love affair between a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old youth led to a tragic double suicide on Monday.

Karishma Madan Patil of Bhiwandi’s Vadgar village was in love with Kalpesh Bahiram Patil, 21 for some time. When Karishma’s family came to know about her affair and stopped her from meeting Kalpesh, she committed suicide by hanging herself.

Her grief stricken family angrily set out in search for Kalpesh. They smashed the Chinese food stall that he owned before setting it ablaze and also destroyed his motorcycle. After registering a complaint with the Bhiwandi Gramin Police about Karishma’s suicide, a mob then proceeded towards Kalpesh’s village in order to teach him a lesson at his home.

However, before the police and Karishma’s family could reach Kalpesh’s hamlet, he had already committed suicide. His family told the police that on coming to know about Karishma’s suicide, Kalpesh locked himself in his room and hanged himself.

There was tension between both the families but any untoward incident was averted because of the police presence. Late on Monday night, the police sent the bodies for post-mortem, but to different hospitals. While Karishma’s body was sent to the nearest Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Kalpesh’s body was sent to the Thane Civil Hospital. Police continued to maintain a full bandobast at the village.

After the post-mortem, Karishma’s body was cremated late on Monday night, while Kalpesh’s cremation was done on Tuesday morning in the same crematorium.

Kalpesh’s family has lodged a complaint with the Bhiwandi Gramin police alleging that Kalpesh committed suicide because the girl’s family had destroyed his stall and were coming to kill him.

Talking to this reporter, Senior Police Inspector Y.R. Bhagwan said, “The girl’s age was only 16, because of which her family objected to her affair, but she committed suicide.We have registered an FIR against the girl’s family members and investigation further in this sensitive matter.”