New Delhi: The Delhi police on Monday arraigned former union minister and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor as accused in the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
In a charge sheet filed before metropolitan magistrate Dharmender Singh, the police said Shashi Tharoor was guilty of abetment to suicide. He has been charged under sections sections 498 (A) (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel in South Delhi on January 17, 2014.
The death came after Sunanda Pushkar had came out with a statement accusing her husband of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.
Tharoor is the only person arraigned as accused in the case. The police, in its charge sheet, which runs into 3,000 pages, also alleged that Tharoor subjected his wife to cruelty.
The court will hear the case again on May 24. The police also urged the court to summon Tharoor as an accused.
The charge sheet, which includes several annexures, said Sunanda Pushkar died within three years, three months and 15 days of her marriage with Tharoor.
The couple had entered into wedlock on August 22, 2010. Pushkar was found dead in the suite of the South Delhi hotel on January 17, 2014. The suite was sealed that night itself for investigation.
An FIR was registered by the Delhi police on January 1, 2015 against 'unknown persons' under IPC section 302 (murder).
The police had questioned Shashi Tharoor to ascertain the circumstances in which Sunanda Pushkar checked into the hotel two days before her death.
The police initially contended that Sunanda Pushkar was poisoned and a murder case was registered in January 2015.