A 37-year-old government doctor allegedly died by suicide, following which her husband, an ophthalmologist, was booked on charges of abetment of suicide in Punjab's Jalandhar, police said on Thursday.
Dr Meenakshi Sood, who was posted at the Civil Hospital in Kapurthala, was found dead in her rented accommodation on Wednesday, police said.
Her husband, Dr Piyush Sood, who operates a private hospital in Jalandhar, is currently on the run, and efforts are underway to locate him.
In a complaint filed by Meenakshi's father, he accused Piyush of physically and mentally torturing her after she discovered his extramarital affairs earlier this year at his hospital. She also found CCTV footage of him with another woman.
Initially, her family intervened and tried to persuade him to change his ways. However, the complaint states that Piyush began physically assaulting her, and in June 2025, he allegedly attempted to strangle her.
Meenakshi reported the abuse to the police and, frustrated with her husband, started living separately in a rented place. According to the FIR lodged by her father, they had been living apart for about a year.
After their marriage in 2018, Meenakshi took out a loan of Rs 35 lakh to help Piyush establish an eye hospital called National Eye Care.
Later, when she approached a bank for a loan to buy a house for herself, she discovered that her husband had taken out a loan of Rs 2.50 crore using her forged signature, the FIR stated.
She informed her father about this situation. Meenakshi tried to contact Piyush and his father to have her name removed from the loan. Instead of complying, Piyush allegedly began to threaten her, as stated in the FIR.
In his complaint, Meenakshi's father asserted that she took the extreme step because she was being mentally harassed by her husband, Piyush Sood.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rakesh Kumar Yadav said that the accused is absconding and efforts are underway to trace him.
A case has been registered against Piyush under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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