Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Niece Found Dead at Her House in West Bengal's Birbhum

Kolkata: Bristi Mukherjee, the 28-year-old niece of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was found hanging at her residence in Kusumba village under the Rampurhat area of Birbhum district on Tuesday, according to reports.

The body was recovered from a room on the second floor of the house in the afternoon, the reports said. The body has reportedly been sent for post-mortem examination.

Mukherjee is the daughter of Nihar Mukherjee, a distant (maternal) cousin of Mamata Banerjee and a local TMC leader. According to reports, she had been suffering from depression for the past few years and was undergoing treatment. She had lost her job as non-teaching staff at an upper primary school in Bolpur following court orders that cancelled large-scale recruitments in government-aided schools linked to the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment process, the reports said. The appointments were struck down amid allegations of irregularities and corruption, affecting thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff.

Police have launched a probe into the incident. Further details are awaited.