Haryana govt to hand over Bhiwani teacher death probe to CBI

Haryana government will hand over the investigation into 19-year-old teacher Manisha’s death in Bhiwani to the CBI following public outrage. Police claimed suicide by insecticide, but her family and villagers rejected the finding, demanding a fair and impartial probe.

Chandigarh: The Haryana government is going to hand over the probe into the death of a 19-year-old teacher last week in Bhiwani to the CBI following public outrage.

“The state government and police administration are working with full seriousness and transparency to ensure justice for our daughter Manisha from Bhiwani and her family,” Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said on Wednesday, while adding that he has been continuously seeking updates about the case.

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“Based on the family’s demand, the Haryana government is going to hand over this case to the CBI for an impartial investigation. Full justice will be ensured in this matter,” Saini posted on X in Hindi.

Earlier, the Haryana government on Tuesday ordered the suspension of mobile internet, bulk SMS and dongle services in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts for 48 hours (from 11 am on Tuesday) amid public outrage over the death of the teacher.

Manisha’s body was found in a field in Bhiwani on August 13. She had gone missing on August 11, after leaving the school, purportedly to enquire about admission at a nursing college.

On Monday, police claimed that the investigations pointed to the teenager dying by suicide by ingesting poison.

However, her father, Sanjay, on Tuesday rejected the finding and refused to cremate the body, demanding “justice.” He said, “The administration is saying that my daughter committed suicide. But I can say that she can never commit suicide. I want justice.”

While protests over the teacher’s death raged on, and politicians waded into the matter, alleging breakdown of law and order, the emergence of a “suicide note” in the death case on Monday turned the investigation on its head.

Bhiwani Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar said the purported note was found near Manisha’s body in a bag, which also had her Aadhaar card and other documents. He also said that there was proof of Manisha buying insecticide.

“In the viscera sample, the presence of insecticide has been confirmed in the body. So, there is self-purchase, there is a suicide note, there is poison in the body,” he said.

Police also said that the post-mortem reports have ruled out the possibility of any sexual assault.

The villagers had also questioned the latest findings and continued to block a key road in Bhiwani in protest. They had said Manisha’s cremation would not take place till “justice” is done.

The death caused massive outrage, with people blocking key roads in the district and the opposition parties, including the Congress, demanding a CBI probe.

The opposition parties flayed the BJP-led state government, claiming that the alleged murder was proof of a “breakdown of law and order” under the saffron party.

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the role of the state government and the police had been “negligent and irresponsible”, and an “unfortunate attempt is being made to prove the whole case as a suicide.”