M A I N   N E W S

Air hostess Geetika Sharma’s mother too commits suicide
She also names Gopal Kanda, Aruna Chadha in suicide note
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 15
More than six months after former MDLR air hostess Geetika Sharma committed suicide at her New Ashok Nagar residence in Delhi due to alleged harassment by former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, her mother also ended her life at the same place today.

Anuradha Sharma allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the same ceiling fan that her daughter had used to end her life on August 5 last year.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest district) P Karunakaran said Anuradha purportedly wrote a two-page suicide note. It read: “After Geetika’s death, I have been very sad that she died because of Kanda and his aide Aruna Chadha. I am committing suicide because I am depressed that my daughter had committed suicide.”

Karunakaran said an FIR would be registered on the basis of Anuradha’s suicide note. “We will then act accordingly,” he added.

Anuradha, who worked with the Finance Ministry, returned to her residence from her office at Shalimar Bagh in Delhi around 4.30 pm. She was alone at home at the time of the incident. Her sister-in-law Jyoti was the first person to see her body hanging from the ceiling fan. The police was informed about the incident around 5.50 pm. Anuradha’s husband Dinesh Sharma was also informed. Her son, Ankit, arrived home around 6.30 pm.

Her body was taken to a nearby government hospital for a post-mortem at 7 pm.

The family was too distraught and shocked to react. Anuradha left her suicide note in the same drawer where her daughter Geetika had kept her suicide note.

The note, purportedly written by Geetika, read that she was ending her life due to “harassment” by Kanda. The police has arrested Kanda and Chadha for allegedly abetting Geetika’s suicide.

Geetika’s family has been reportedly facing pressure from Kanda and his aides to drop charges against him. Kanda, a former Haryana minister, is the chairman of the MDLR Group and is now standing trial for abetting Geetika’s suicide.