Bengaluru: Suicide or murder? 26-year-old woman's death remains mystery

Bengaluru: A day after Sonal Agrawal mysteriously fell from the balcony of her neighbour’s flat on the fifth floor of Mantri Alpyne Apartments in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, the police registered a murder case on Monday.

Prima facie, she gained entry into the neighbour’s house using a stolen key. Once inside, she stole gold articles and foreign currency from their house and hid it in her undergarments. When the neighbours came into the house, she jumped from the balcony to avoid being caught, the police said. 

But on Monday, her husband, Dr Avinash Agrawal, a paediatrician at KIMS Hospital, denied that she stole the valuables from the neighbour’s house. He told the police that it was not a suicide, but his wife was pushed from the fifth floor. Based on his statement, the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police registered a murder complaint, a senior police officer said. 

“Before leaving the flat, Sonal told her husband that she was going to see the Ganesha idol at Prasad’s house. After sometime, Avinash went to the ground floor to attend the Ganesha puja organised by the apartment residents. He learnt about Sonal’s death after security guards raised an alarm. The Flat No. 501, from where Sonal fell belongs to Prasad, a software engineer. We summoned Prasad and his family for questioning on Monday,” said DCP (West) Ravi D. Channannavar.

On Sunday, Mr Channannavar and Kengeri Gate ACP Dr S. Prakash visited the spot.  Inspector Shiva Reddy is investigating the case.

Neighbour’s jewellery, foreign currency found on Sonal: Police
What initially appeared to be a suicide has now taken the turn of a theft-cum-murder case. The police found jewellery, house keys and foreign currency belonging to Prasad on Sonal’s body. Prasad told the police that their flat key was stolen a week ago. On Sunday, Sonal used the same key to gain entry into the house and stole US dollars and jewellery, he said. “We did not inform the police about our missing key as we thought our children might have misplaced it. On Sunday, our family had gone to the ground floor to attend the Ganesha festival celebration. We came back home and found the door locked from inside. We knocked, but there was no response. After learning that somebody had jumped from the building, we came down and saw that it was Sonal. We also learnt that she had jumped from our flat. We found our missing key, dollar currency notes and gold jewellery in her innerwear,” he told the police.

What happened on Sunday
“At the time of the incident, no one was in Flat No. 501. The balcony from where Sonal fell faces the apartment’s backyard. Gold articles like necklace and bangles were found on Sonal’s body. She had worn the jewellery. Also, foreign currency and the key was found tucked inside her undergarments,” a police officer, who is part of the investigation, said. But her husband Dr Avinash Agrawal denied charges of theft against Sonal, and insisted that she was murdered. When Deccan Chronicle asked police officials whether Sonal had any cases of theft registered against her, they replied in the negative. “We spoke to the family and neighbours and found nothing. But she may have jumped out of fear of being caught,” they said. There are no CCTV cameras in the corridors, and no one saw Sonal entering the Flat No. 501.  The police are verifying the phone call records of Sonal and her husband.

Why did she jump?
A few questions remain unanswered. Why did Sonal leap to her death when she could possibly hide inside the flat? Was anyone inside the flat already and committing the theft? Did he/she see Sonal and pushed her out? Why would Sonal wear stolen jewellery?

Moved in two months ago
Sonal and Dr Avinash Agrawal married in 2015. The couple have a one-year-old son. Sonal hailed from Katghora in Chhattisgarh.  The couple moved to Mantri Alpyne Apartment about two months ago. They were staying at Flat No. 505.
A senior police official said that the couple were good friends with Prasad’s family.