Former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda acquitted of charges over air hostess Geetika Sharma’s suicide; a look into the 2012 case
Geetika Sharma had worked with Gopal Kanda’s MDLR Airlines but had left the job. In a two-page suicide note, she had alleged harassment by Kanda and his employee.
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Kanda was the MLA from Sirsa and a prominent minister in the Haryana government. (Express archive photo by Jaipal Singh) A prominent minister in the Haryana government, Gopal Kanda was forced to resign following the death of air hostess Geetika Sharma in August 2012. Sharma, 23, had died by suicide at her Northwest Delhi residence, leaving behind a note accusing Gopal Kanda and his associate Aruna Chadha of harassing her.
In the note, Sharma called Kanda a “fraud” who took advantage of others. “Aruna is also helping him to hurt me…sabotage my family…” read the letter.
It was revealed that Sharma worked with Kanda’s MDLR Airlines but had left the job two years before her alleged suicide.
Her family alleged Kanda had been harassing the family for months. Kanda and Chadha were sent to judicial custody, and the Delhi Police filed a 1,800-page chargesheet in the case. Sources said the chargesheet cited all the calls Kanda and Chadha allegedly made to Sharma. “The family had also alleged that Kanda stalked and sexually harassed Sharma. We recorded statements of fellow air hostesses, family and associates of Kanda,” said an officer. The police, in their chargesheet, stated that Kanda was “obsessed” with Sharma. They said he was “putting pressure” on her to come back to his company after she left the airline in 2010 to join Emirates Airlines. They also booked him for rape and unnatural offences.
However, the cases fell flat during the decade-long court trial. The Delhi High Court dropped rape charges in 2014. The court granted bail to both Kanda and Chadha the same year.
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