Jharkhand Activist Dies By Suicide During Facebook Live After Speaking On Police Call

Activist Dies on Live Stream

Nisha Bhagat, a 38-year-old Adivasi activist from Jharkhand, allegedly died by suicide during a 10-minute Facebook livestream in Ranchi on Friday. She spoke about her grievances and called the Pithoria police station inspector while on the video. Bhagat was known for being vocal about tribal religion and Adivasi rights, supporting the delisting of tribals who converted to Christianity or Islam from the Scheduled Tribes list. During the video, she appeared distressed, saying she was fighting alone for the community against land mafia and felt the system had failed her. She also expressed anger over online trolling and being called a broker, while mentioning that she expected support from the RSS and the BJP but they never stood by her.

Police and Political Reaction

In the livestream, Bhagat told the Pithoria police station inspector that she was live and would take her life, while questioning why a robbery case at her house was unsolved and why her harassers were not caught. The inspector reportedly disconnected the call, and police later reached the spot to take her to RIMS hospital, where she was declared dead. Ranchi Rural SP Gaurav Goswami stated that Bhagat was live for about 10 minutes and called several people, including her parents, before her death. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party criticized the state government and police. BJP state president Aditya Sahu demanded action against responsible police personnel, while Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi blamed Chief Minister Hemant Soren, alleging a lack of administrative support and demanding a CBI probe.

Context

Activists who use social media platforms to broadcast personal distress or protests often draw immediate public attention and put local law enforcement under intense scrutiny. Incidents involving allegations against police response times during critical moments typically lead to departmental inquiries and political confrontations between ruling and opposition parties in the state.