Model suicide: Husband faces trouble as police digs into his background

New Delhi: Police suspect that Delhi-based pub owner Nitin Chawla, who has been arrested for domestic violence and dowry death after his socialite wife allegedly committed suicide, hid details of his life from her, including about a rape case he was facing, when they married in January.

Police which is digging into his background have indicated that he may be slapped with few other charges. The police have come across a rape case against Chawla (38) registered in Mumbai around three years ago, about which Chawla had suspectedly not mentioned to his wife Priyanka Kapoor (25) before marriage, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

Kapoor's relatives told police that they got to know about the matter weeks after their marriage on January 6. Delhi Police have written to their counterparts in Mumbai seeking details on the progress of the case, with regard to which Chawla had got bail from a city court there in 2014, the official said.

In the case, the complainant had told police that in 2011 she met Chawla at a nightclub in Delhi, following which Chawla allegedly raped her over a period of time on the pretext of marriage, never disclosing his marital status until the complainant came to know about it on her own.

Read: South Delhi suicide: Delhi police to seek Mumbai police’s help

Chawla, who is suspected to have got the woman's admission done at an institute in Mumbai, also allegedly forged her signature and issued cheques on her bank account.

Mumbai Police is learnt to have registered a case on the basis of the complaint and arrested Chawla in 2013, the official said.

Thorough background details of an accused is necessary for filing a water-tight chargesheet in any case, he said.

On the wee hours of Saturday, socialite and entrepreneur Priyanka Kapoor was found dead at her apartment in south Delhi's Defence Colony area. She allegedly hanged herself from a ceiling fan, leaving behind a suicide note.

Chawla married Kapoor on January 6 around a month after he divorced his first wife, with whom he has a son (10) and a daughter (8).

It is also suspected that Chawla did not tell Priyanka about the custody of his son, which led to a dispute between the couple after their marriage. The last dispute between Chawla and Kapoor is also suspected to have occurred because of the former's son being home during Holi, the official said.

Since a day prior to the festival, Priyanka had stopped taking calls following which her mother went to check on her on late Friday night and raised an alarm when nobody opened the door for a long time.

With further investigation, it also emerged that Chawla and his relatives allegedly used to torture Kapoor for a car, they allegedly demanded from the woman's family after marriage, the official said.

"In view of all these allegations, more sections under provision of IPC and Dowry Prohibition Act are likely to be added in the FIR," the official added.

During investigation of the case, the police have so far come across allegations and counter-allegations regarding the cause of dispute between Chawla and his wife.

Chawla during interrogation has alleged that his wife was alcoholic and led a lifestyle too lavish for his income. He even suspected her of being involved in an extra-marital affair and told police that she had once gone missing – and later found in a hotel with a male friend -- earlier, the official said.

However, Kapoor's relatives have alleged that their daughter was the one cheated on. She was fed up of Chawla's extravagant lifestyle and is believed to have told her parents that Chawla had even not paid the rent of the Defence Colony house for past two months, the official said.

In her suicide note, Kapoor clearly stated that Chawla allegedly used to harass and torture her. She mentioned about physical abuse and how Chawla had allegedly forced her to snap all ties not only with her social circle but also her own family.

In the two-page note, she went on to say that marrying Chawla was the biggest mistake of her life, the official added.