A case was registered against seven men on Sunday after their alleged blackmailing forced a 22-year-old woman in Punjab's Muzaffargarh district to take her own life, police said.

The victim, Alina*, was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in their house in Shehr-i-Sultan area of Muzaffargarh's Jatoi tehsil on Friday.

According to a first information report (FIR) registered on a complaint of Alina's mother, the primary suspect in the incident, who lived in the same area, wanted to marry the victim. The suspect, Zafar*, and his accomplices started threatening and blackmailing Alina after her family refused his marriage proposal around three months earlier.

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On Thursday, December 13, some of Zafar's accomplices barged into the victim's house and threatened the family, saying Zafar possesses alleged compromising material concerning Alina that he would upload on social media if she was married off to someone else.

As the blackmail and harassment continued, Alina took the extreme step the next day by allegedly hanging herself from the ceiling using her dupatta, according to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com.

The victim took her life because of the harassment and mental anguish she was subjected to by the suspects, her mother stated.

According to Station House Office Talib Babar, a case has been registered against the seven nominated suspects, including Zafar, under Section 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code at Police Station Shehr-i-Sultan.

Police are further investigating the incident.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.