Mamata Banerjee’s niece found dead at Bengal home
Bristy Mukherjee, niece of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was found dead at her residence in Birbhum district on Tuesday, police said.
The 28-year-old was the daughter of Nihar Mukherjee, a maternal cousin of Banerjee and a local Trinamool Congress leader.
According to the police, family members found Bristy hanging on the first floor of her home in Kusumba village at around 10am. Her body was subsequently taken to Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy.
Police said they were initially treating the incident as a suspected suicide but were examining all possible circumstances surrounding the unnatural death.
Her family said Bristy had been dealing with depression for several years and was undergoing medical treatment. Her father said the family became concerned after she did not come downstairs in the morning and later found her in the room.
Bristy was also involved in a divorce proceeding. Her mother, Pampa Mukherjee, said the marriage had broken down and that the family had filed for divorce.
She had previously worked as a non-teaching employee at Bolpur Upper Primary School. Her employment was among the appointments cancelled in March 2023 following the Supreme Court’s intervention in the alleged cash-for-jobs recruitment case in West Bengal. Around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching employees were affected by the decision.