LUDHIANA: Two days after she was sexually harassed by twin brothers, a 23-year-old Dalit woman committed suicide at her house in a village here on Friday morning.Police have arrested the two upper-caste youths — Jagdeep Singh and Jagjit Singh — on the charges of sexual harassment and abetment to suicide.The woman’s mother said, “My daughter and I worked as domestic help. Around 4.30pm on Wednesday, my daughter was on the way home when the two brothers waylaid her and sexually harassed her. My daughter somehow freed herself from their clutches and hid at a house in the village. On hearing her cries, the village women, who were armed with sticks, came to her rescue. On seeing them, the duo escaped from there.""Feeling humiliated, the woman confined herself to her house. “She was so depressed that she refused to step out. She did not even go to work,” her mother added.She took the extreme step after her parents left home. Her father, a labourer, said, “After I left for my workplace, my wife went to a nearby market to buy medicines. My son and his wife were at home. They were sitting outside when my daughter hanged herself from a ceiling fan.”Her sister-in-law said, “I was with her all the time. For a few minutes, I went out to sit with my husband. When I went to her room, I saw her hanging from the fan.”As she raised the alarm, neighbours gathered at the spot.On being informed, cops, including additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-special branch) Surendra Lamba and Dehlon police station SHO inspector Prem Singh, reached the spot and arrested the two accused.Lamba said, “Neither the family nor villagers lodged any complaint. The police were not even informed about it.”Her father said, “The accused had threatened my daughter that they will kill her family if she spoke about the incident. Besides, a villager had assured to resolve the issue and advised us not to speak about it. And so, we did not approach the police.”Lamba said, “Had her family or a villager informed the police, the woman’s life could have been saved. Action will be taken against those who pressured the family to not file a complaint. A case under sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 354 (sexual harassment) of the IPC and under the SC/ST Act has been registered against the two accused.”The villagers told the police that the two brothers were jailed in Italy and later deported to India. “After returning home, the duo started helping their father, a farmer, in fields,” said a villager.“We are verifying if the accused have a criminal record,” Lamba added.

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