‘Sudden unnatural death’ for Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, say doctors

New Delhi – The last rites of Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, wife of Union minister Shashi Tharoor, are being conducted at the Lodhi Road crematorium which is not very far from the residence of the Tharoors in south Delhi.

Mrs Tharoor, 52, was found dead inside the bedroom of her suite at The Leela Palace hotel in Delhi last evening. Doctors from Delhi’s AIIMS hospital who conducted an autopsy on her body today have termed it as a case of “sudden, unnatural death”.

“We are focusing on investigating the reason for the sudden unnatural death. In view of that, all injuries (on Sunanda’s body) have been photographed and filmed. Nature of injuries can’t be revealed but there were certain injuries,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, one of the three doctors who conducted the post-mortem. He also said that biological samples taken to determine if she died of poisoning are yet to be analysed, with the final report expected in a “couple of days”.

Earlier this morning, Mr Tharoor, 57, had complained of chest pains and was admitted to AIIMS. The junior minister for Human Resources Development was discharged a little before noon. His statement was recorded by the Delhi Police late last night.

Yesterday, Mr Tharoor attended a mega-conference of his Congress party. When he returned to the Leela Hotel, at about 8.30 pm, his wife did not respond to requests to open the bedroom door. The minister accessed her room with help from the hotel staff and found his wife lying dead on the bed.

His assistant told NDTV that the couple had checked into the Leela Hotel on Thursday because their house was being painted. However, Mrs Tharoor had told NDTV on Wednesday evening that she had moved into the hotel alone and that she was “heart-broken” because she had discovered a series of text messages that proved an alleged affair between her husband and Pakistani reporter Mehr Tarar.

Mrs Tharoor had, earlier this week, alleged that her husband was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist, who she targeted in a series of angry tweets.

But on Thursday, the Tharoors issued a joint statement in which they said they “are happily married and intend to stay that way.”