A city-based eye surgeon was booked after his wife, a government doctor, was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her rented residence in Jalandhar on Wednesday. The deceased, Dr Meenakshi
, was found hanging in a room of the house.
Police have registered a case against her husband, Dr Piyush, an eye surgeon associated with a prominent eye hospital in the city, under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for abetment to suicide. Investigations are underway and authorities are awaiting the postmortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death.
The case took a serious turn after family members alleged that Meenakshi had been subjected to domestic abuse and mental harassment for several years. They also claimed that she had recently discovered that loans amounting to nearly Rs 2.5 crore had been taken in her name without her knowledge or consent.
According to her family, the victim, who was serving as a doctor at a government hospital in Kapurthala, had been living separately from her husband since July 2025 due to marital disputes. Her parents alleged that she was planning to seek a divorce and had recently begun exploring the purchase of a separate house.
The matter allegedly came to light when she approached a bank regarding a housing loan and learned that liabilities worth approximately Rs 2.5 crore were already linked to her name. Family members claimed that her signatures did not appear on the relevant loan documents and that subsequent checks of her CIBIL records revealed about the huge loan.
Her father, Pramod Kumar, alleged that the discovery of the loans caused immense mental distress to his daughter. He further claimed that the loans included financing linked to vehicles and business-related activities.
The family has also accused Piyush of maintaining an extra-marital relationship with a nurse employed at the same hospital. According to the complainants, Meenakshi became suspicious and later examined CCTV footage from the hospital, which they claim supported her suspicions. The family said the footage has been handed over to the police as part of the investigation.
Her parents further alleged that she had been subjected to physical assault and harassment. They claimed there had been previous incidents of violence and that Piyush would occasionally contact them after altercations, expressing regret over his behaviour. Parents also claimed that last year he tried to kill her by strangling.
“We are being told it is a suicide, but we do not know whether it was suicide or something else. The postmortem examination will reveal the truth,” she said.
The family has demanded the immediate arrest of Piyush and a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to Meenakshi’s death, including the alleged financial transactions and claims of harassment.
The Indian Express tried contacting Piyush, but no response was made till the filing of this report.