MUZAFFARNAGAR/ROORKEE: It was a cold December night in 2022 when Rajat Kumar and Nishu spotted a crumpled Mercedes – upside down, smouldering – near Roorkee on Delhi-Dehradun highway. They didn’t know then that the man they pulled from the wreckage, half-conscious and bleeding, was cricketer Rishabh Pant. They called the police and stayed on till help arrived. Pant later said they were “heroes who helped me… I’ll be forever grateful and indebted”.
Months after Pant gifted him a scooter as a token of gratitude, Rajat is fighting for his life in a hospital, accused of a crime he insists he didn’t commit. On Sunday, Rajat, 25, and his girlfriend Manu Kashyap (21), consumed poison together. Their love was not meant to last – different castes, disapproving families, marriages arranged elsewhere.
Rajat’s lover’s family files plaint, accuses him of poisoning her
In despair, Rajat and his lover made a suicide pact, or so it seemed. A resident of their village, Buchha Basti, spotted them writhing on the ground and raised the alarm. By the time their families arrived, much damage was done. They were rushed to a local hospital. Manu’s family transferred her to another facility, where she died before dawn on Tuesday, while Rajat, barely clinging to life, is still in treatment.
Then, hours after Manu was cremated, her mother walked into Purkazi police station and filed a murder complaint against Rajat, accusing him of poisoning her daughter.
Now, the village that once took pride in Rajat’s bravery whispers about scandal. In a place where “family honour” is currency, a young man and woman trying to defy caste and family expectations is not just a personal crisis – it is a communal one.
Muzaffarnagar SP Satyanarayan Prajapat said no police case had been filed until Manu’s mother intervened. The local police have turned their attention to Manu’s mother’s allegations. “We have received a written complaint from the woman’s family, accusing Rajat of poisoning her,” Singh told TOI.
Doctors said Rajat is showing signs of recovery. “Both consumed a strong pesticide,” said Dr Dinesh Tripathi of Pragya Hospital. “We began immediate treatment. Manu’s family moved her elsewhere, but Rajat is improving under our care.”