"Shashi Tharoor called Mehr Tarar 'my darlingest'; Sunanda Pushkar had 15 injury marks" - Delhi court told
Sunanda Pushkar, 51, was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi's Chanakyapuri on the night of January 17, 2014. Her husband, Shashi Tharoor, is accused of abetting her alleged suicide.
Key Highlights
- Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a Delhi hotel in 2014
- Delhi Police told a court that Sunanda Pushkar was suffering from mental agony
- The Delhi Police had charged Shashi Tharoor under Sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC
New Delhi: Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a Delhi hotel in 2014, was suffering from mental agony because of a tense relationship with her husband and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the Delhi Police told a court on Tuesday.
Notably, Tharoor is accused of abetting the alleged suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
During arguments on framing of charges against Tharoor, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava mentioned in the court that Pushkar was not only disturbed because of her fights with her husband but also due to his relation with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.
While justifying its charge against Tharoor, the prosecution told the court that the former Union minister had addressed Mehr Tarar as "My darlingest" in letters written to her.
Tharoor is, at present, on bail in the case. The Delhi Police had charged him under Sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
As per the post-mortem, the cause of Pushkar's death was poisoning, the probe agency told special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar. It added that there were 15 injury marks on various parts of her body.
"The post-mortem conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) opined that the cause of death was poisoning. The report also says that there were 15 antemortem injuries on her body," the public prosecutor said.
The prosecutor further noted that the statement as given by Pushkar's friend and journalist Nalini Singh also confirms that the relation between Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor was strained. Nalini Singh’s statement is part of the charge sheet.
"I got a call from Sunanda who was crying and sobbing. I told her Mehr Tarar was nothing and she was everything. She wanted to take revenge from Tharoor and Tarar. There was a lot of bad publicity in the media. She told she helped Tharoor a lot in the IPL matter. She had found some messages between Tarar and Tharoor. She refused to go to their house and instead went to the Leela hotel. The relation between the couple was very bad," Nalini Singh had said in her statement.
The prosecutor also apprised the court of finding an e-mail written by Tharoor to Tarar addressing the Pakistani journalist as "my darlingest".
"Such type of language was used. There are various letters which show how intimate Tharoor and Tarar were with each other," he said.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, who appeared for Tharoor, snubbed the submissions, saying he did not know about any such e-mail.
Next hearing is on August 31. The maximum punishment for the offence is 10 years of imprisonment.
On the night of January 17, 2014, 51-year-old Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of the Hotel Leela in Delhi's Chanakyapuri. Her death had left everyone shocked as it happened shortly after a bitter spat between the couple over Twitter, over Tharoor’s alleged affair with Tarar.
The couple was staying at the hotel as Tharoor’s official bungalow was undergoing renovation at that time.