Delhi Cafe Owner Dies by Suicide Amid Divorce Case; Family Accuses Wife of Harassment

Just days after a Bengaluru techie took his own life over alleged harassment by his wife amid divorce and child custody proceedings, another tragic case has emerged from the Model Town area of Delhi.

Puneet Khurana, 39, who runs a cafe, was found dead at his residence in Kalyan Vihar on Tuesday afternoon.

According to his family and friends, Puneet, who was fighting an acrimonious divorce case with his wife Manika, had been continuously threatened and pressured.

The couple had been together for eight years; they used to operate their cafe business as a joint venture. But they had been living separately for the last two years due to constant quarrels.

Talking to his friends, detailing the events that led up to the incident, one said, "He rang us up on Monday evening saying he was really stressed and wanted to talk to us. He had the feeling Manika's family would go for his father and other family members. We kept talking to him till 2 am and were trying to comfort him saying that justice and law are with him. He seemed to be really scared.

Another friend said, "Puneet was a strong man, but the threats against his parents put so much pressure on him."

Puneet's sister said she shared similar sentiments, adding that even after her brother and sister-in-law had amicably settled financial and business disputes, he still received threats from his wife's family.

Before taking this extreme step, it is said that Puneet has recorded a video and an audio clip. Police have not yet confirmed the availability of the video, but there is a 20-minute audio recording of the conversation between Puneet and his wife late in the night.

In the audio, Puneet can be heard narrating disputes with regard to the shared business and financial issues between them. By the end of the conversation, he threatens to reveal the facts on YouTube the next morning.
On Tuesday afternoon, Puneet was found hanging in his home. Family members rushed him to a hospital but doctors declared that he was brought dead.

The police have sent Puneet's body for postmortem and seized his mobile phone to further investigate. The officials are going through all the evidence, including the audio clip, to understand what happened before he died.

The couple had no children and was in the process of divorcing with mutual consent. The claims of harassment and threats will come under the scanner of the investigation, along with the content of the recordings that Puneet made.

Puneet's tragic death has once again brought to the fore the extreme emotional cost of marital disputes and the need for timely intervention and support.