Sunanda Pushkar case: Delhi Police urges court to frame charges against Tharoor for cruelty, abetting suicide

The Delhi Police on Saturday urged a court here to frame charges against Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor for allegedly abetting suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

The police told Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar that Pushkar committed suicide because of the mental torture and extra-marital relations.

Referring to the autopsy report, Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava pressed for framing of murder charges against Tharoor.

"In the mail, we found a statement of Sunanda Pushkar. She stated that she had no will to live anymore and prayed for her death," said Shrivastava.

Citing the statement given by their domestic help, Shrivastava told the court that the couple had been fighting for over a year before her death. "They used to fight over a girl name 'Catty' and on the matters of Indian Premier League (IPL)," he said, quoting the helper.

"Pushkar told me about Tharoor's affair with a woman named Mehr Tarar. They had spent three nights in Dubai in June 2013. Since she has a strong base in Dubai, she was told about it by her friends," Shrivastava quoted a statement given to him by Pushkar's friend Nalini Singh, who is a senior journalist.

"I got a call from her. She sounded upset and was sobbing. She said that Tharoor and Tarar had exchanged intimate message. In one message she had said that Tharoor was going to divorce Pushkar after the elections," the Public Prosecutor told the court, on Nalini's behalf.

He also cited Sunanda's brother Ashish Das, who told him that his sister was happily married but was upset during the last days of her life.

After hearing the contentions, the court slated the arguments on the charges to be framed against Tharoor to October 17.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014.

Tharoor was charged under Sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).