‘Hema, Chintan Upadhyay cared for each other despite the divorce’

The husband and wife were undergoing divorce proceedings, but Chintan’s father, Vidhyasagar Upadhyay says the two still deeply cared for each other.

On day two of the investigations into the brutal double murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambani, the former’s husband Chintan was being questioned at the Kandivli police station. The husband and wife were undergoing divorce proceedings, but Chintan’s father, Vidhyasagar Upadhyay says the two still deeply cared for each other.

File photo of Mumbai-based artist Hema Upadhyay, who was found dead in a drain in Mumbai's Kandivali suburb. (PTI Photo via Twitter)

The 68-year-old Upadhyay rushed to Mumbai from Jaipur late on Sunday after hearing the news, and has been sitting outside the Kandivili police station since 9am on Monday, waiting to hear news of his son.

Though he hasn’t met Chintan yet, and has yet to ask the police permission to see him, Vidhyasagar said family and friends had been able to speak to him at the station.

A Jaipur-based artist himself, Upadhyay appeared to have little other knowledge of the proceedings, but was also in shock over of the entire episode.

“We cannot even fathom such an end for anyone. I am in shock because of this tragedy,” said Vidhyasagar, who largely kept to himself. He was kept company by relatives as he waited at a tea-stall close by.

When he eventually spoke of his son’s relationship with Hema, the artist said they loved each other a lot.

“Even as they have filed for divorce, the emotions are still there. They were classmates and married in 1998,” he said.

Bodies of Hema and Bhambani were found packed in cardboard boxes in a drain near a crematorium in Kandivli. Police were waiting for the autopsy report to know the exact cause of death.

Three persons have so far been detained in connection with the case.