Bhoomika Kochhar death: Probe so far points to suicide: Cops

Bhoomika Kochhar death: Probe so far points to suicide: Cops

KATHMANDU, JUL 27 -

Investigations so far into the death of one Bhoomika Jatia Kochhar under “suspicious circumstances” in Kathmandu have pointed tosuicide , police said here on Friday.

However, the investigations are on and the case is not closed yet, the police told a press conference at the Metropolitan Police Crime Investigation Division (MPCID).

Bhoomika, 25, was found hanging from the ceiling of the bathroom attached to her bedroom in her family’s Chundevi-based house, Samridhi Kunj, on June 15.

Born and brought up in Muttontown in New York, Bhoomika had shifted to Nepal in 2011 after marrying Aakash Jatia, 25, an Indian national belonging to a business family living in Kathmandu.

Bhoomika’s US-based father Chander Mohan Kochhar filed a complaint with the police, claiming that his daughter was murdered by the Jatia family over dowry.

According to the police, the two-year married life of Bhoomika and Aakash was not in the pink. The couple went through several rough patches, fighting over ‘a number of reasons.’ The police did not disclose the ‘reasons.’

According to the police, a day before Bhoomika’s death, the couple had decided to go for dinner at Vesper Restaurant in Naxal. However, the plan was cancelled after the duo fought over the place they should go for some live music after the dinner, police said.

“The next morning, Aakash saw his wife weeping over photos of her parents,” said SSP Bijay Lal Kayastha, the MPCID in-charge. “When he asked what had happened, Bhoomika reportedly said she was missing her family.”

The same afternoon, around 12:15 pm, when Aakash tried to approach Bhoomika for a talk, she told him to “leave her alone for an hour as she was not feeling well.” Aakash then reportedly drove to a flower shop in Hattisar and bought a bouquet of roses and a greeting card for his wife. He called Bhoomika on the phone at 1:15 pm and asked ‘do you love me?,’ to which Bhoomika, according to the police, answered, “I don’t know,” and held up.

Aakash then drove back home to find his bedroom locked from inside. Standing outside the door, he sent eight text messages to Bhoomika’s number from 1:38 to 1:40 pm, police said. When all his texts went unanswered, he went out and tried to look into the attached bathroom of his bedroom from the ventilator. As soon as he saw a nylon rope hanging by the rod of the ventilator, he called on the servants to break open the door, police said.

With the help of the servants, Aakash then took her to the nearby Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), where she was declared dead, SSP Subodh Ghimire, in-charge of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka, said. He again took her to Vayodha Hospital in Balkhu, but in vain, SSP Ghimire said. Police said they had Bhoomika’s viscera samples tested to see if she was forcibly hung after being poisoned. The reports, however, were negative, police said. Bhoomika’s father has alleged that the Nepali authorities did not carry out fair investigations. Talking to the Post over telephone, he said her daughter was tortured, mentally and physically, as that the Kochhar family had refused to give in to the dowry demands.

Another relative of Bhoomika, Amita Kochhar, said the family had already dolled out $2 million in dowry to the Jatias, who hail from Mumbai in India. Akaash and Bhoomika first met in Boston University in 2009. Following a love affair, they tied the knot in 2011.