Local women of Sipaghat, Mandan Deupur Municipality, Kavre took out a rally in Dhulikhel today demanding fair investigation into the questionable death of a woman here last week.

A married woman of 25, Sarita Dulal of Sipaghat, in Mandan Deupur Municipality was found dead on Friday with bruises on her neck.

Suspecting foul play, local women held a rally in Dhulikhel today, demanding that police launch a fair probe into the mysterious death. They also staged a sit-in in front of the district police office.

The rally and sit-in also had the participation of rights activists and deputy mayors of five out of six municipalities of the district; namely Mandan Deupur, Panchkhal, Namobuddha, Banepa and Dhulikhel.

After learning about the death, Sarita’s brother Krishna Prasad Dahal of Chainpur filed an FIR in Mandan Deupur on Friday. He suspected that her sister could have been murdered by her family.

“For one, the death wasn’t reported until 10:00 am. Similarly, finding of the body on a floor different from where the couple stayed, all those bruises on her neck, besides the mysterious disappearance of her husband, these, of course, have led to the suspicion of foul play,” the brother argued.

According to Superintendent of Police Rabiraj Khadka of the district police office, they have arrested four persons of the deceased’s family after the FIR.

“Acting on the FIR filed by Sarita’s brother, we arrested her parents-in-law Pitambar and Ganga Dulal, brother-in-law Keshav Dulal and his wife Sangita the same day and are investigating them,” said the SP. “The post-mortem of the body has been conducted and we’re waiting for the report,” he added.

Police also informed that they arrested Sarita’s husband Sudip Dulal the next day after the FIR was filed.

According to locals, Sudip, who had tied the knot with Sarita two years ago, has been a mental patient for the past two years. Though under the same roof, the couple is said to have been living separately from their parents.