‘Wife’s family dared him to die by suicide’: Big claim by bakery owner’s sister​on January 1, 2025 at 1:26 pm

‘Wife’s family dared him to die by suicide’: Big claim by bakery owner’s sister

​’Wife’s family dared him to die by suicide’: Big claim by bakery owner’s sister ‘Wife’s family dared him to die by suicide’: Big claim by bakery owner’s sister   

The family of Puneet Khurana, a bakery owner, who hanged himself at his home in north Delhi’s Model Town on Tuesday, has alleged that the victim faced taunts and mental torture from his estranged wife and her family. They also claimed that the wife kept on demanding her share of their bakery business from him, which prompted the victim to take the extreme step.

According to Khurana’s family, he was “upset with his wife”, Manika Pahwa, whom he got married to in 2016. The couple co-owned the For God’s Cake bakery, as well as another eatery called Woodbox Cafe, which closed a while ago.

“Manika Pahwa, her parents and her sister forced my brother, stressed him out and instigated him by saying, ‘you can’t do anything, die by suicide if you dare’. There is a video recording shot by him for around 59 minutes on his phone. In that video, Puneet mentioned details of harassment he faced from his wife. We presented and played the recording to the police, and they did not give us a copy of it when we asked for it. They have seized it,” Khurana’s sister told news agency ANI on Wednesday.

“Manika’s family threatened to throw our parents out of the house and dared Puneet to open his shop again. They kept on abusing and pressured him mentally,” she alleged.

Asked about the bakery business dispute between the estranged couple, the victim’s sister said when the first notion of divorce was signed, it was decided that her brother would manage For God’s bakery and his estranged wife would get Woodbox Cafe.

“They used to run the bakery earlier in partnership. But amid the divorce proceedings, she (Pahwa) kept calling him and demanded her share. She kept on saying she would not leave her share. When the matter was already decided by court, you should have gone and raised the matter there instead of harassing my brother. She also hacked Puneet’s Instagram account too,” she alleged.

“She misbehaved with people through Puneet’s Instagram account. Because of this, my brother called her at 3 am and they argued over the bakery business on the phone,” she said.

On the other hand, Khurana’s distraught mother said her son’s estranged wife kept on torturing him mentally. She said her son never shared anything with the family with the belief that they would be stressed and upset.

“I had hoped that my son and Manika would live happily after they separated. He was broken from inside. They argued over business as they were both in partnership. He had never revealed such things to us thinking that we would be upset. She tortured him so much that he was compelled to take the extreme step yesterday. I have lost my son and I want justice for him,” the victim’s mother told ANI.

DCP North West Delhi, Bhisham Singh, reacted to the Delhi bakery owner’s suicide case, and said, “The father of the victim said his son was going through marital discord, and he alleged that his daughter-in-law harassed him because of which he died by suicide.”

He said he hanged himself with a cloth and his family took him down and kept his body on the bed. “A post-mortem will be conducted and the report will come by tomorrow. If any complications arise, we will form a board and get the post-mortem done. We will take necessary action after that,” the police official said.

“They got married in 2016 and separated two years ago. Divorce proceedings were going on. We questioned the woman’s family and made counterclaims. The couple had spoken over the phone and argued over the bakery business probably before the man died by suicide,” he said.

Singh said the woman sent the audio clip of Khurana detailing his harassment by her to her in-laws and said it did not have any serious content, apart from the argument.

The incident has drawn parallels with the recent suicide of Atul Subhash, a 34-year-old techie from Uttar Pradesh, at his home in Bengaluru. In that case, Subhash made a video recording for nearly two hours, detailing the harassment he faced from his estranged wife and her family and left a 24-page suicide note.

(with inputs from ANI)