Mumbai:
A 32-Year old man committed suicide by setting himself ablaze after a heated argument with his estranged wife led her to beat him up with relatives at Vile Parle last Friday.
Chandrakant Govindswami, a driver, married Sangeeta about 11 years ago. He had met her while standing in a queue at Shirdi temple. The two fell in love and eventually got married.
The Vile Parle police said that sometime after the marriage, the couple shifted to Sangeeta's parents' house at Bamanwada at Vile Parle (East). They had two children, a girl and a boy. But the love wore out soon and there were frequent fights between the couple. The two parted ways four years ago.
Bitter half
"Chandrakant was very attached to his children and frequented Sangeeta's house to meet them. However, Sangeeta would not give any attention to him and barred him from meeting the children," said the cops.
On Friday evening, Sangeeta called Chandrakant to her house in Bamanwada and abused him. The wife and her relatives allegedly started beating Chandrakant publicly. Mortified, he walked towards his car and drained out the petrol in a two-litre bottle. He went in front of Sangeeta's house, doused the fuel on his body, and set himself ablaze. A shocked Sangeeta and her relatives took him to a hospital nearby but looking at his severe burns, the doctors advised them to take him to KEM hospital. After fighting for life, Chandrakant died on Sunday evening.
Sub-inspector Nivas Vidhate of Vile Parle police station said, "Based on primary evidence, we have noted a case of suicide. However, due to allegations from the deceased's family members, we are taking down statements of Sangeeta and her family members. If we find anything suspicious, we will act accordingly. The body was handed over to the deceased's family after postmortem."