A 40-year-old chief medical officer of a municipal hospital allegedly committed suicide at her house in Govindpuri in New Delhi on Friday. Suspecting foul play, her family has demanded an inquiry into the incident.
Victim Sushma Rani Singh (40) was married to Fahim Ansari for last 15 years. Mr. Ansari is a criminal lawyer by profession and the couple has two children.
Mr. Ansari found his wife hanging from a ceiling fan went he went into her room around 11.40 p.m. on Friday. She was taken to a nearby private hospital where she was declared brought dead.
Mr. Ansari then informed Sushma’s family about the incident.
The body was taken to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences for post mortem and handed over to Mr. Ansari on Saturday afternoon amidst a demand from Sushma’s brother and other family members that the body be handed over to them instead.
Sushma’s brother and Maulana Azad Medical College professor Jugal Kishore alleged that Mr. Ansari was behind his sister’s death.
He demanded that a murder angle should also be looked into as relations between his sister and brother-in-law had become strained for the last eight to 10 years.
“She used to complain of torture and exploitation by her husband whenever we talked. Even on the night of her death, when I went to their house, she and her husband had an argument. He used to harass her mentally and physically. Despite the fact that she was a qualified doctor and earned well, she had no financial freedom,” said Mr. Kishore.
He added his sister used to consume sleeping pills on a regular basis to deal with the mental agony she was going through as a result of her husband’s attitude towards her.
When asked if Sushma had registered any case of domestic violence against her husband in the past, Mr. Kishore said: “She was scared to do so as it could have affected her family life.”
In the handwritten suicide note recovered by the police, Sushma has written that she was cheated by one Gurcharan Singh and did not wish to continue living.
Her family has questioned the veracity and validity of the note, which it described as a “cover up”. The date on the suicide note, January 20, the family said, leaves room for suspicion as it was written more than six months before the alleged suicide.
Mr. Kishore and other family members also raised suspicion over the fact that the signature on the suicide note was in Hindi whereas Sushma signed in English.
The victim’s sister even claimed that the handwriting was not Sushma’s.
The police have registered a case of abetment to suicide.
