Describing Priyanka Kapoor Chawla as a “positive and soulful” person, the Reiki and Pranic healing practitioner’s family refused to believe that despite an allegedly turbulent married life she was capable of committing suicide.
Her father Ashok Kapoor said she was looking forward to opening a Reiki healing centre when they received the news of her death.
The family added that she wanted to resume work for the sake of her own financial independence and to support them, but her husband Nitin Chawla was allegedly opposed to her working. This, despite the 40-year-old’s Greater Kailash II-based club and lounge Cinema not doing well.
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While the family said Nitin was involved in an ownership dispute over the club with his brother, the police confirmed that the lounge was not attracting much footfall, which could be the main reason behind his financial struggle.
“Before their marriage, he was always trying to impress her by showing off an affluent lifestyle. In order to convince her about his financial prowess, he took the Defence Colony house on rent. However, the couple had failed to pay rent for the past two months,” said a police officer.
Priyanka’s family added that things had taken a turn for the worse soon after the marriage, which they were opposed to but accepted later for the sake of her happiness.
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“We were opposed to the marriage from the beginning, but Priyanka said he loved her. Before marriage, he pretended to be a loving and caring boyfriend who visited our house almost daily with cupcakes and roses,” said her sister Dimpi.
Both the sister and the father claimed they were unaware of Nitin’s first marriage.
The couple got married on January 6, barely two months after Nitin’s divorce was finalised. On January 30, Priyanka told her parents that Nitin had hit her. The parents brought her back to their Lajpat Nagar residence and even advised her to lodge a police complaint.
“Nitin was unapologetic. Even his mother took his side saying this was a ‘normal’ affair between couples. It was only after an assurance from his father, who pleaded with Priyanka to reconcile, that they patched up,” said Mr. Kapoor.
From then, such occurrences allegedly became a common affair. Nitin would torture her every now and then, and protest against her visits to her family’s residence. But even after all this, the family never felt the marriage was on the verge of collapse or that Priyanka would harm herself.
The conversations that Dimpi and their mother had with her on March 24 and 25 were brief, with Priyanka telling them on both occasions that she was tired and needed rest.