A 23-year-old woman died by suicide at CMC Hospital in Ludhiana on Tuesday morning, hours after a late-night incident involving a Thar SUV in Harcharan Nagar near Shingar Cinema Road.
The incident took place during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The woman, identified as Raina Dhir, and a young man, Divyanshu Bagga, have been at the centre of two conflicting accounts of what happened.
Divyanshu alleged that he was attacked by a group of 25 to 30 men after being called to the woman's street. Her brother, Rohan Dhir, denied that she had called him and accused Divyanshu of harassing his sister.
According to Divyanshu, his birthday was on November 2. Around 12.30 am, he was dropping a friend home when he received a call from Raina, whom he claimed he had known for around one-and-a-half years.
He alleged that she asked him to come to her street in Harcharan Nagar. When he reached there, a group of 25 to 30 men allegedly surrounded his Thar SUV and threatened him.
Divyanshu claimed that the group initially attacked his vehicle with bricks and stones, during which his friend suffered a head injury.
He alleged that when he tried to drive away, seven to eight men opened fire at the SUV. According to him, the attackers targeted the vehicle's windows, rear portion and tyres.
Divyanshu claimed that despite the tyres being punctured, he managed to escape by driving towards the Haibowal area.
He also alleged that one bullet passed through a seat's headrest. He accused Raina's brother, mother and other family members of being involved in the attack.
Raina's brother, Rohan Dhir, gave a different account of the incident.
He alleged that Divyanshu had been harassing his sister for the past six months and claimed that the family had tried to reason with him on several occasions.
Rohan alleged that Divyanshu arrived in their street late at night, played loud music and rang their doorbell.
He claimed that when the family confronted him, Divyanshu called his friends to the spot. Rohan further alleged that Divyanshu rammed into vehicles parked on the street while leaving.
He said local residents had approached the police over the alleged damage to their vehicles.
Rohan denied that his sister had called Divyanshu to the street and challenged him to produce evidence supporting the claim.
He demanded strict action against those responsible for the incident.
Police officials said an incident involving an altercation and reckless driving was reported during the night.
They said an investigation into the matter was underway when information about Raina's death came to light on Tuesday morning.
The police stated that they had not received information about any firing during the incident.
Divyanshu's side was advised to file a formal complaint, but police said no complaint had been submitted at the time of their statement.
The police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the late-night incident and the woman's death.