Tribal rights activist Nisha Bhagat died in Ranchi on Friday, hours after a Facebook Live video in which she spoke of the threats she said she faced for her work. Nisha Bhagat, who was from Pithoria in Ranchi district, was found at her home and taken to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors declared her dead. Police said they have opened an investigation and registered a case of unnatural death.
What Nisha Bhagat said in the Facebook Live video
The video lasted about 10 minutes and was watched by thousands of people before it spread widely online. In it, Bhagat appeared distressed and spoke about a long struggle against people she described as land mafias, and about attempts to defame her. She wept as she spoke, apologised to her parents, and said that opposing the government and local land brokers “meant inviting death”. The video ends abruptly.
Police found her body hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at her house, Ranchi City Superintendent of Police Paras Rana told the news agency PTI. Her body was sent to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences for a post-mortem examination. A police official said it appeared at first sight that she had died by suicide after going live on social media, but the exact reason had yet to be established. A medical board post-mortem was carried out at RIMS, and a forensic team examined the house.
The incident took place under the Pithoria police station area on Friday afternoon, according to reports. A police team reached her home after receiving information and took her to RIMS, where doctors at the emergency department found she had been brought dead, RIMS director Dr B K Sinha said.
How police are investigating the Nisha Bhagat case
Police have registered a case of unnatural death and are investigating all aspects of Nisha Bhagat’s death, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Gaurav Goswami said. A forensic science team carried out a scientific sweep of the house. Officials said Bhagat had spoken to the officer in charge of Pithoria police station shortly before the incident. The allegations Bhagat made in the video have not been independently verified, officials said.
Nisha Bhagat was widely known in Jharkhand for her advocacy of tribal rights and her campaign for recognition of the Sarna religion. She had consistently raised issues of tribal identity and the rights of indigenous communities. Originally from Gumla district, she belonged to the Oraon tribal community. She contested the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly election from the Gumla constituency on a Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha ticket, and lost.
Nisha Bhagat’s campaign centred on recognition of the Sarna faith, followed by many tribal communities in Jharkhand. Her work on the issue had made her a known figure in the state’s tribal rights movement, where she spoke regularly at public meetings and on social media.
Political reaction to the Nisha Bhagat death
The death has set off a political row in Jharkhand. Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi said Bhagat had named Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the officer in charge of Pithoria police station, and a man named Ajay Tirkey in her video. Marandi demanded an impartial investigation and sought a response from the chief minister. BJP state president Aditya Sahu accused the police and the administration of negligence and said Bhagat had expressed her distress in a Facebook Live session watched by many people. BJP leaders have questioned the role of the state government and the police in the case. Some leaders have demanded a CBI probe.
Nisha Bhagat’s Facebook Live video has been viewed by thousands of people since it was posted, and clips from it have circulated widely on social media. The video remained on her Facebook profile after her death. Police said the investigation would cover the circumstances of the death and the claims Bhagat made before it, and the findings of the post-mortem and the police inquiry are awaited.