Tragedy Strikes: Air India Pilot’s Suicide Sparks Allegations of Abuse

The Powai police in Mumbai arrested a Delhi-based man Aditya Pandit, 27, on Tuesday on charges of abetment after his girlfriend Srishti Tuli, a 25-year-old Air India pilot, allegedly died by suicide in Marol, Andheri on Monday.

The woman’s family, based in Gorakhpur, told The Indian Express that they suspect the accused killed her and was trying to portray it as a suicide. They alleged that he abused her in public and stopped her from eating non-vegetarian food. The family has urged the Mumbai police to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Tuli was found dead at her rented accommodation behind Marol Police Camp in Andheri (East) early on Monday. Initial inquiries indicate that she was mentally disturbed due to Pandit’s harassment, the police said. Pandit had been preparing for a pilot’s exam but failed to qualify they added.

Preliminary police probe has revealed that when Tuli returned home after work on Sunday, she had an argument with Pandit, who had been frequenting her place of late. At around 1 am, Pandit reportedly left for Delhi. Tuli called him on his phone and allegedly revealed that she was going to take the extreme step. According to the police, Pandit then returned to her place but found the door locked from the inside. He called a key maker, got the room opened, and found her unresponsive, officers said.

Pandit rushed her to Seven Hills Hospital in Marol, where Tuli was declared dead. Soon her family and the police were informed.

Jitendra Sonawane, Senior Inspector of Powai police station, said they arrested Pandit under section 108 (abetment to suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on a complaint from Tuli’s family. “He was produced in court on Tuesday and remanded to four days’ police custody,” the inspector said.

“The post-mortem report indicates the cause of death to be suicide. We have sent the woman’s phone, which is locked, to a forensic lab to analyse her conversations with the accused. We will soon record statements from her family members, close friends, colleagues and roommates,” Sonawane added.