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Fear implication in dowry case, Ludhiana realtor who killed family wrote in his suicide note
Police have booked his son’s father-in-law and brother-in-law for abetment to suicide. In the two-page note, which has been recovered from his house, Rajiv Sunda mentioned that the duo had taken ₹7 lakh from him in the past two years and were demanding ₹10 lakh more. When he refused to give them the money, they allegedly threatened to implicate him in a dowry case.
A day after it was found that realtor Rajiv Sunda, 60, had ended his life the same day that he had hacked his family members to death with an axe, police have booked his son’s father-in-law and brother-in-law for abetment to suicide.
As per the police, Rajiv had left behind a suicide note in which he had alleged that Ashok Gulati, his son’s father-in-law, and Gaurav Gulati, the brother-in-law, were threatening to implicate him in a dowry harassment case.
In the two-page note, which has been recovered from his house, Rajiv mentioned that the duo had taken ₹7 lakh from him in the past two years and were demanding ₹10 lakh more. When he refused to give them the money, they allegedly threatened to implicate him in a dowry case.
Rajiv further wrote that as the police tend to favour women in such cases, he feared he would be sent behind bars under false charges. So he wanted to end his life after killing his family members. Rajiv also demanded stern action against Ashok and Gaurav Gulati, in the note.
Accused refute allegations
Ashok Gulati and Gaurav Gulati, who have been booked under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code, have refuted the allegations. They said that in fact it was Rajiv who had barred Garima from visiting them, without any reason. Inspector Paramdeep Singh, PAU station house officer, said that on the basis of the suicide note, police have booked the father-son duo under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made so far.
The Sunda family, including Sunita Sunda, 58, son Ashish Sunda, 35, daughter-in-law Garima Sunda, 32, and grandson Suchet, 12, had been found hacked to death in their house on Tuesday morning. The railway police had found a body on the railway tracks the same day, but it was not until Thursday that police found out about it and ascertained that it was Rajiv Sunda’s body.
‘Garima had hinted at something untoward happening to her’
Garima’s father and brother have told the police that she had hinted that something untoward may happen to her but they dismissed it as a family feud and told her to settle it on her own. “However, we had no idea that she was going to be murdered,” said Gaurav Gulati, her brother.
Garima had lost her mother to a cardiac arrest on October 13. She had stayed at her parents’ house for some days after her mother’s death.
As per relatives, she had been frequenting her parents’ house even after all the cremation rituals were over. Garima is said to have told her relatives that she had sensed a change in the behaviour of her father-in-law and feared something untoward was going to happen to her. They had pacified her and told her that they would keep in touch with her over phone.
Ajay Kumar, a relative, said that on Monday night, they had talked to Garima over the phone and she sounded okay. The next morning they were shocked when Garima’s son Suchet made a frantic call to Ashok, saying that his grandfather was beating them. Before they could reach to their rescue, the accused had already murdered Garima, her husband, son and mother-in-law.
The house in Mayur Vihar where the brutal crimes took place remains locked. The neighbours are still in shock over the incident. They said they were aware that Rajiv Sunda was a reserved man but never thought he would kill anyone.
