Chandigarh, June 22: Chandigarh Police have booked two women and the owner of Hari Palace Hotel, Sector 52, for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 25-year-old man from Nawanshahr, whose body was found hanging in one of the hotel rooms on Friday evening.
According to the FIR, the deceased left home on June 18, telling his family he was going to work but never returned. In the early hours of June 19, the family received a series of WhatsApp messages and a voice note in which the victim alleged he was being harassed and blackmailed by two women. One of the women, police said, was known to the victim through a social media platform. The messages were sent to the victim’s cousin shortly before he went missing.
Following a tip from an auto-rickshaw driver, the victim’s family traced him to Hari Palace Hotel. Initially, hotel staff denied his presence. However, when police accompanied the family to the premises, the young man was found dead inside a room. The area was promptly sealed and examined by the Sector 36 forensic team and a mobile forensic unit.
“Digital evidence, including WhatsApp chats and call records, is being scrutinised to establish the nature of the victim’s interactions with the accused,” a senior police official said. The conduct of the hotel operator is also under investigation for allegedly attempting to conceal the victim’s presence and for delaying the reporting of the incident to authorities.
Based on the complaint filed by the deceased’s cousin and initial findings, a case has been registered under Sections 108 (abetment of suicide) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact sequence of events and the involvement of the two women and the hotel owner in what police have described as a deeply disturbing case of alleged emotional coercion leading to suicide.
