A woman in her mid 20s self-immolates after her fiancé breaks engagement

Published On: December 7, 2022 07:50 AM NPT By: Harshita Agrawal

KATHMANDU, Dec 7: Pushpa Neupane, 27,-- the owner of Kelme Showroom in Durbarmarg --was engaged to Sudhan Sangroula, 29. The two of them knew each other when Sudhan visited her showroom in January 2021. They became fond of each other and stayed connected through social media.

Within a year, the two decided to get married. With the consent from their family, Pushpa and Sudan were engaged on September 3. There was an understanding between the two parties to organize a wedding ceremony within a year.

Suddenly, the Sangroula family changed their mind and decided to break off the engagement on Saturday. They even returned all the jewelry and money to the Neupane family. The reason behind this abrupt decision is not known to the Neupane family.

But this was unbearable to the girl who was already engaged. A day after the engagement was broken, she went straight to Sudhan’s home in Dhumbarahi, sprinkled petrol on her body and set herself on fire in front of her fiancé’s main gate.

Now, the deceased family has filed a case against Sudhan’s family for inciting her to commit suicide and not taking any measures to save her even as the incident took place before their eyes. They complained that the Sangroula family acted as mute spectators when the girl self-immolated herself at around 5 pm on Sunday in front of their house.

The girl’s family filed a complaint against four members of the Sangroula family, alleging that they were tormenting the woman mentally, thereby encouraging her to self-immolate. According to SP Dinesh Raj Mainali at the Metropolitan Police Range Office, Kathmandu, Neupane passed away at around 9:30 am on Monday shortly after she was transferred to a burn treatment center in Kirtipur for treatment.

Police arrested Sudhan, his mother Bindu, father Dinesh and his sister Madhu on Monday morning in connection with the incident. Although all members of the family including Sudhan were arrested following the complaint, the court did not allow them to be detained.

SP Mainali said all other members except Sudhan were released after the court order.

The victim's family has requested the police to investigate the call details between Sudhan and Pushpa including those in Facebook Messenger, Viber and WhatsApp to see if Sudhan had incited her to self-immolate.