Autopsy result awaited; Bhat blames pal for wife's suicide

The autopsy of Padmapriya, wife of Udupi BJP legislator Raghupati Bhat, conducted at Safdarganj hospital on Monday at the first instance indicates that she had committed suicide by hanging herself to death from the ceiling fan hook.

The report of suicide is yet to come. The incident took a new turn after Raghupati Bhat blame his friend Atulram's alleged hand before his wife's death.

"It was a suicide. I have no doubts about it. Family friend Atul Rao is responsible for it and he brought her to Delhi," Bhatt said.

The Karnataka police as well as their Delhi counterparts have neither confirmed nor ruled out any extra-marital relationship between the deceased Padmapriya, wife of the Karnataka sitting MLA Raghubhati Bhat, and the family friend Atulram, who runs a shop in Udupi. The police are also clueless whether the two had staged a kidnapping drama to live together in Delhi. Though the preliminary investigation has ruled out foul play as Shalini Singh, DCP (southwest) said the Padmapriya's autopsy report indicated she confirmed suicide.

The police said the circumstantial evidence suggests it was a case of suicide, but the investigation is on and nothing can be said with surety before the investigation gets completed.

Padmapriya, the 35-year-old and the mother of two had been missing for the past six days before she was found hanged on Sunday in a Delhi apartment. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

The police said they were investigating the case keeping all angles in mind. The needle of suspicion turned to Atulram after Mr. Bhat blamed him for inciting his wife for committing suicide. “I had full faith in Atul and my wife. He deceived me,” Bhat said. Backing by his brother-in-law Bhat said that Atulram vitiated his 11-year long happy married life. Atulram though has been questioned but not taken into custody in connection with the suicide, the Karnataka police said, however have not ruled out his hand in the case.

The police are also trying to link between the two incidents: if Atulram has had hand before Padmapriya's suicide then why he was helping police, over whose clues police recovered the body of Padmapriya from a hotel's room in Dwarka booted from inside. But the second incident forced the police to crate doubt over Atulram as he left for Bangalore the same day Padmapriya went missing and returned four days later when her car with blood stains, cash and broken pieces of bangles, mobile phones and tablets was found in Kunjarugiri forest range.

“We are investigating if all this was pre-planned. We are also checking if Atulram himself had put up Padmapriya at the flat in Delhi and later returned to Udupi to evade doubt,” said an officer.

In the meantime, Karnataka Home Minister, VS Acharya ruled out any foul play in the case. Acharya was in New Delhi to attend an official function while he claimed Padmapriya committed suicide after she was abducted. The body was handed over to the family after post mortem at the Safdarjung Hospital. The report is still awaited.