The Thane police has arrested the owner of an advertising agency for allegedly tormenting his wife to the point of driving her to suicide after 19 long years of marriage.
According to the Rabodi police, Sharmila Gondhalekar (39) was found to have hanged herself with a nylon rope from the ceiling fan of her interior-designing workshop in the Flower Valley area of Thane on April 9 this year. A suicide note found in her diary only said that she was fed up of mental torture and that no one was responsible for her extreme step. The police had at the time registered an accidental death report and set about making inquiries.
Two days later, Sharmila’s brother Shashank Harwande approached the police and alleged that she had been driven to suicide by her husband Raju (41). In his complaint, Mr Harwande has claimed that within a year of marriage, Raju and his mother started picking fights with Sharmila over trivial issues.
“Sharmila was even consulting a counselor for her problems, and after her death, the counselor told us that there had even been attempts by some members of Raju’s family to sexually abuse Sharmila,” Mr Harwande told The Asian Age.
After completing inquires, the Rabodi police arrested Raju on Saturday and he is currently in police custody. Senior police inspector D.B. Bhange added that Raju’s mother has also been booked.