A 25-year-old woman pilot in India has committed suicide by hanging over alleged harassment by her boyfriend, Indian media reported.
The young pilot, namely Srishti Tuli, was a resident of Mumbai, reports said.
Local police were informed about Srishti’s death by a local hospital at around 8 am on November 25. An initial investigation suggested that the pilot committed suicide by hanging herself on November 24 after returning home from duty.
A postmortem report confirmed that she died of asphyxiation due to hanging, reports added.
Srishti’s family has blamed her 27-year-old boyfriend for the death. Srishti, who hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, had gone to Delhi in 2019 to train for her Commercial Pilot License (CPL). After completing her training, Srishti got a job with Air India in 2023, for which she had to relocate to Mumbai.
She and the accused first met in Delhi about two years ago.
Her uncle, Vivek Kumar, told the police that Srishti and her boyfriend had been living in the same house for five to six days before the suicide.
An initial investigation suggested that the accused had left Mumbai for Delhi at around 1 pm on November 25. However, the uncle claimed that an argument took place between the two at their home and later over the phone.
The police also found out that Srishti called the accused and threatened to commit suicide after which he returned to Srishti’s residence in Mumbai.
However, when the accused returned home in the morning, Srishti did not open the door or answer his calls.
The accused called a locksmith, with the help of whom the door was opened. A friend of the accused was also accompanying them. When all these people entered the house, they found out that Srishti had hanged herself.
The accused took Srishti to a nearby hospital for first aid but doctors confirmed her death and informed the police.
Srishti’s family reached Mumbai later in the day. In their statements to the police, they alleged that Srishti committed suicide due to alleged harassment and abuse by the accused. Her uncle also claimed that her niece was “disturbed by her boyfriend’s behaviour for some time”.
“He often behaved rudely and hurled insults at her in public,” reports quoted the uncle as saying.
The deceased’s family also alleges that the accused “encouraged” Srishti to commit suicide.
According to Indian news outlets, the boyfriend has been arrested on charges of harassment, and further investigation is underway.