A sessions court in Mumbai granted bail on Friday to Aditya Pandit, a Delhi resident, who was arrested last month on charges of abetting the suicide of his girlfriend, Srishti Tuli, an Air India pilot.
Srishti Tuli, 25, died by suicide at her Andheri home on November 25. In a complaint, her father accused Aditya Pandit, a vegetarian, of harassing her, particularly over her consumption of non-vegetarian food. Preliminary investigations suggested that Tuli had been struggling mentally due to the alleged harassment by Pandit.
During proceedings at the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai, Aditya Pandit’s lawyer, Aniket Nikam, argued that a case of abetment to suicide could not be established, even when considering all the allegations outlined in the complaint.
Nikam argued that Tuli and Pandit were in a relationship, and that occasional disputes between them did not imply any criminal intent on Pandit’s part. He contended that for a charge of abetment to suicide to be valid, it must be proven that the deceased had no other option but to take her own life, which he argued was not the situation in this case.
Nikam stated, “The deceased was an educated woman. If she was unhappy in the relationship, she could have ended it, or if she was being harassed by the accused, she could have lodged a complaint. There was no prior complaint or suicide note. Therefore, it cannot be claimed that the applicant abetted the suicide.”
Earlier, the police revealed that Tuli had returned to Delhi a day before her death and had called Pandit to inform him that she was contemplating taking the extreme step.
In his bail application, Pandit stated that when Tuli stopped answering his calls, he returned to Mumbai and went to her residence. After she did not open the door, he called a locksmith to gain entry, only to find her unresponsive. Tuli was immediately rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
According to Mumbai Police sources, Air India pilot Srishti Tuli made a video call to her boyfriend Aditya Pandit before allegedly taking her own life on Monday. Further details of the case indicate that the couple had a dispute, which led to Pandit leaving for Delhi. Despite Srishti requesting him to stay with her, Aditya reportedly refused.
Shristi also said she would die by suicide but Aditya did not change his mind. Srishti reportedly video called him and showed that she was going to hang herself, the source said.
Aditya further claimed that while returning to Srishti’s home, he repeatedly called her in an attempt to prevent her from taking her life. Upon arriving and finding the door locked, he and another woman pilot contacted a locksmith to open it. Inside, they discovered Srishti dead at her residence in Mumbai’s Marol area on November 25.
