Suspected suicide: Shashi Tharoor’s wife found dead

This happens day after couple gave joint statement clearing unauthorised tweets that sparked controversy on Twitter.

Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Indian state minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in a hotel in New Delhi on Friday.

The suspected suicide comes just a day after the couple gave a joint statement clearing unauthorised tweets that had sparked a controversy on the micro-blogging website.

Pushkar had accused Lahore-based journalist Mehr Tarar of stalking her husband and trying to “break” her marriage. She also reportedly alleged that Tharoor was having an “extramarital affair” with the journalist and that she would “seek divorce”.

Pushkar came to attention after she was spotted with the Indian minister in public events. She had also been embroiled in controversy due to her stake in the Indian Premier League team Kochi Tuskers in 2010.

Pushkar who belongs to a family of landlords and army officials, from Kashmir, was associated as the sales director of a Dubai-based real estate company, before she was married to Tharoor.

Pushkar has left behind a 21-year-old son, from her second husband Sujith Menon, who was a Kerala-based businessman.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2014.