Mamata's niece found dead; family cites depression after job loss in recruitment scam

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee’s niece was found hanging at her residence in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Tuesday (September 1), police said.

The body of Bristy Mukherjee, 28, was recovered from a room on the second floor of her father’s residence in Kusumba village in the Rampurhat area. Police sent the body to Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

“The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway. The circumstances leading to the death will be established after the post-mortem and other procedural inquiries,” a senior police officer said.

'She was fighting depression'

The cause of death has not yet been established.

Mukherjee’s father, Nihar Mukherjee, is Mamata Banerjee’s maternal cousin and a local TMC leader.

Also read: Bengal's Didi shield cracks: How Mamata Banerjee lost the state she dominated

According to family members, Mukherjee had been suffering from depression for the past few years and was undergoing treatment. They said she had been particularly distressed since the court verdict in the cash-for-jobs scam.

Cash-for-jobs scam

Mukherjee had lost her job in March 2023 as a non-teaching staff member at a government school in Bolpur after the Supreme Court cancelled the recruitment of staff in government-aided schools over alleged irregularities and corruption.

Following orders from the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, around 25,700 teaching and non-teaching staff were sacked after the recruitment process was found to have involved candidates who allegedly secured jobs through favouritism and exchange of cash.

The scam involved the 2016 State Level Selection Test conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission and became one of the major corruption cases to hit the state government during Mamata Banerjee’s tenure.

Also read: Former Bengal deputy speaker Asish Banerjee found dead at TMC office in Birbhum

Local media reports also indicated that divorce proceedings between Mukherjee and her husband were underway.

Her death comes days after senior TMC leader and former West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee was found hanging inside a party office in Rampurhat on Sunday (August 31).

(Suicides can be prevented. For help, please call Suicide Prevention Helplines: Neha Suicide Prevention Centre – 044-24640050; Aasara helpline for suicide prevention, emotional support & trauma help — +91-9820466726; Kiran, Mental health rehabilitation — 1800-599-0019, Disha 0471- 2552056, Maithri 0484 2540530, and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)