Babita Khadka, 25, the niece of Minister of Forest and Environment Shakti Bahadur Basnet, was found hanging at around 12:45 pm in her living room at Westar Residency in Balkumari, Lalitpur, today. Babita had married Roshan Khadka, press co-ordinator for Energy Minister Barshaman Pun, three years ago.

According to Mukti Basnet, first cousin of Babita, she was found hanging from the ‘handle of a wall-fixed cupboard’. Babita used to live with Roshan and an in-law. Roshan had left the apartment at 7:30 am for ‘his regular work.’ After sometime Babita called her husband on mobile phone, but he did not answer. Later, when Roshan called Babita she didn’t answer.

At around 9:30 am, Babita’s in-law knocked at her door to discuss what to cook today, but there was no response. Later she called her brother and asked him to come over. Mukti Basnet told THT: “At around 12:45 pm some family members with the help of technicians working at the apartment complex forced open the door and found her hanging.”

The family then called the police, which arrived at the scene in 15 to 20 minutes, according to sources. The police then took her body to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for post-mortem.

Superintendent of Police at Metropolitan Police Range Lalitpur Shekhar Khanal said, “Preliminary investigation at the site shows that it is a case of suicide. But we are investigating it from all angles. We’ll know more about the incident after the post-mortem report.”

Babita’s family said she was cheerful and articulate and was doing bachelors in journalism from Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Bhrikutimandap. Babita was raised by her maternal uncle Shakti Bahadur Basnet, who also took care of her education. According to Mukti, “The minister himself had organised Babita and Roshan’s marriage.”