At 2.30 am on Saturday, 19-year-old Sonish was pushed from the third floor of the Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon, allegedly by her employer Ashok Rajput. She died three hours later, succumbing to severe brain haemorrhage and multiple fractures all over her body.
The girl’s mother has claimed that Rajput had beaten up her daughter before pushing her to death.
The Gurgaon police have registered a case of murder against Rajput — who’s now absconding — under Section 302 of the IPC, and have taken into custody one Jarid Gurumb, an associate of the accused, for interrogation.
Rajput owns a restaurant, Ice Berg (formerly known as D-Minar), at Bhikaji Cama Place, where Sonish (a resident of Jama Masjid area) was employed as a marketing executive. Sonish had left for Mumbai on an official assignment four days ago and had returned to Delhi at 12.30 on Saturday morning. She was received at Palam airport by Gurumb, who had been sent by Rajput. Gurumb drove her to Addiction, a resto-bar at the Metropolitan Mall where Rajput was already waiting for her.
“Sonish called me up from the airport, saying she was going out for dinner with Rajput and Gurumb,” her mother Shahin Begum told HT. “Then, at 5 am, I received a call from Gurumb who said that Rajput had thrown Sonish from the third floor of the Metropolitan Mall and that she was in a serious condition.” Once she reached the spot, Gurumb told her that there had been a heated exchange between her daughter and Rajput over dinner, and that he had slapped her before pushing her from the third floor of the mall.
In her statement to the police, Shahin Bagum also claimed that Rajput owed Sonish Rs 1.5 lakh, and that he had been avoiding paying her the money back.
“Sonish called me up from the airport, saying she was going out for dinner with Rajput and Gurumb,” her mother Shahin Begum told HT. “Then, at 5 am, I received a call from Gurumb who said that Rajput had thrown Sonish from the third floor of the Metropolitan Mall and that she was in a serious condition.” Once she reached the spot, Gurumb told her that there had been a heated exchange between her daughter and Rajput over dinner, and that he had slapped her before pushing her from the third floor of the mall.
In her statement to the police, Shahin Bagum also claimed that Rajput owed Sonish Rs 1.5 lakh, and that he had been avoiding paying her the money back.
Gurgaon SSP Hanif Qureshi told HT that Gurumb was assisting the police in trying to nab the absconding Rajput. Police parties have been deployed in various places across Delhi to hunt him out.
Sonish’s family is hoping for justice. Her brother Adil, with who she shared a close relationship, said, “We want justice — that brings the rich and the powerful behind behind bars, and we don’t want to wait for years for it to come by.”