Cop arrested from Maharashtra nearly a month after wife’s suicide

Ahmedabad: A head constable with the Ahmedabad city police was arrested from Maharashtra on Tuesday in connection with the suicide of his wife in the Vasna area of the city last month, police said.

The accused, Arjunsinh Singh Purohit, had been absconding since an FIR for abetment of suicide was registered against him at the Vasna police station following the death of his wife, Geeta Purohit, 35, on April 15.

Police said Purohit, who joined the police force in 2015 and was posted at the Satellite police station, fled Ahmedabad soon after the case was lodged against him. Investigators tracked his movements across multiple locations before receiving information that he was hiding in Maharashtra.

A team from the Vasna police subsequently detained him and brought him back to Ahmedabad. He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.

The arrest came amid mounting pressure from the deceased woman’s family members and members of her community, who alleged that police had delayed action despite the FIR being registered nearly 20 days ago. Around 500 people gathered outside the Ahmedabad police commissionerate on Tuesday demanding the immediate arrest of the accused and justice for the victim.

According to the complaint lodged by Geeta’s brother, Nathu Singh Rajpurohit, a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, his sister was allegedly subjected to prolonged mental and physical harassment by her husband.

The FIR stated that on the morning of April 15, Arjun Singh informed the complainant over phone that Geeta was upset over their son’s medical condition and had allegedly consumed sleeping pills. Later that evening, relatives informed the family that she had died by suicide at her residence in Abhilasha Society near Rajwadu Hotel in Vasna.

Geeta is survived by a 10-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son.

Police said further investigation into the allegations of harassment and the circumstances leading to the suicide was underway.