Wife of Delhi bizman, who mixed thallium in her and family members food, dies

New Delhi, April 9  

Weeks after a Delhi-based builder was arrested for allegedly poisoning his wife and other family members by mixing a toxin called thallium in their food, his spouse died at a hospital here, police said on Friday.

Divya Arora, was on ventilator support, and she died on Thursday evening, they said.

Police said Varun Arora, the accused, was inspired by articles related to the toxin and its use by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and used it to kill his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law.

He mixed the toxin in their food to take revenge from his wife and her family members for helping her abort their child without his consent.

On March 22, police had received information that a woman, Anita Devi Sharma, who was a resident of Inder Puri here, had been declared dead at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The doctors had opined that the death was caused due to poisoning by thallium which had been detected in her blood and urine.

On inquiry, it was found that Sharma’s daughter Divya Arora was also admitted in the ICU of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and she too was undergoing treatment for thallium poisoning. She was on ventilator support.

Sometime later, it was also revealed that Priyanka, Sharma’s younger daughter, had died during treatment at BL Kapoor Hospital on February 15 and doctors had detected symptoms of thallium poisoning in her like hair loss and burning feet syndrome.

Sharma’s husband Devendra Mohan was also found to have symptoms of thallium poisoning while the maid, who was working at their house, also had undergone treatment at RML Hospital for similar symptoms.

Investigations revealed that the deceased woman’s son-in-law Arora had visited them January and brought cooked fish for them.

“After we registered the case, Varun Arora was interrogated in which he admitted to have procured thallium and also administering it to his mother-in-law Anita, wife Divya, father-in-law Devender Mohan and sister-in-law Priyanka to take revenge from them. Varun Arora said he had been humiliated by his in-laws,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Urvija Goel had said.

Thallium was recovered from his house at Greater Kailash.

During interrogation, Varun Arora told police that during the time when his father died, his wife had also gotten pregnant, leading him to believe that his father had come back to his family in the form of the child, police had said.

However, when his wife underwent some tests, the doctors told them that there may be some complications during child birth and her life may be in danger. She consulted Varun Arora and also opined that she should abort the child, but he refused, police said.

Varun Arora’s wife, however, discussed the matter with her parents and aborted the baby with their help. When Varun Arora came know about it, he planned to take revenge from them. PTI

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.