Mother-daughter self-immolation: Kanpur Dehat DM alleges she is being subjected to 'character assassination'

Kanpur: Kanpur Dehat District Magistrate Neha Jain on Friday expressed dismay over what she called was her "character assassination" after the death of a woman and her daughter due to self-immolation during an anti-encroachment drive.

Pramila Dixit (45) and Neha (20) died after allegedly setting themselves on fire Monday in a hut in the presence of police, district administration and revenue officials who had come to the village to demolish encroachments on the "gram samaj" land.

Jain said on Friday she always hears and addressed grievances of people who come to her office.

"In this incident, a lot of character assassination of mine has happened, and this is not appropriate as an official and as a woman," she told reporters here.

She also responded to criticism over a video in which she is purportedly seen dancing during an event in the district a day before the incident.

"On February 12, the atmosphere was that of a festival, while the event of February 13 (when the two women died) was extremely unfortunate for all of us. Both of them should not be linked," Jain told reporters here.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of the two women.

Police have registered an FIR against 39 people, including a sub-divisional magistrate, four revenue officials, a police station head and unnamed police personnel. Murder is among the sections listed in the FIR.