Ex-min acquitted; because of his influence, say victim’s kin

Former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda leaves Rouse Avenue Court, in Delhi, on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda in a case of abetment of suicide of air hostess Geetika Sharma. Special Judge Vikas Dhull also acquitted co-accused Aruna Chadha in the case, saying the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond all reasonable doubts. They were also charged under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 466 (forgery).

Died in 2012

Geetika, who was employed with Kanda's MDLR Airlines before it shut in 2009, was found dead at her residence in Delhi on August 5, 2012. In her suicide note, Geetika had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Kanda and Chadha. Thereafter, Kanda resigned from his post of minister of state for home.

Influence

"The moment the court acquitted Kanda, it seemed like the ground beneath my feet had shaken… No one ever treated him like an accused," Geetika's brother Ankit Sharma told The Indian Express. "We expected the order to come in our favour, as the case was watertight and there were all messages showing Kanda harassed my sister and abetted her suicide… It happened because he was influential," he added. "This is what happens when the victim is not financially powerful enough… We gave our everything to the case these 11 years and hoped for some amount of justice for my sister but this was not to be the case," the brother added. The family is planning to challenge the acquittal in the high court.

5 Aug
Day in 2012 she died by suicide

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