Rohit had troubled marriage, says mom

New Delhi: A day after Crime Branch of Delhi police registered a case of murder in Rohit Shekhar Tiwari death, his mother Ujjwala alleged that his son did not share a cordial relationship with his wife and was apparently upset over his political career not taking off.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police crime branch on Saturday questioned the wife and family members of Rohit Shekhar into his unnatural death case.

Crime branch officials questioned Shekhar's wife Apoorva for over eight hours, sources said.

Rohit Shekhar Tiwari (40) was the son of Narain Dutt Tiwari, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. According to Ujjwala, Rohit and she went to Haldwani to cast their vote on April 11. They were supposed to return to Delhi on April 12, but changed their plan after Rohit said he wanted to meet his people.

On April 15, the mother-son duo returned to Delhi. While Rohit went to his residence in Defence Colony, Ujjwala went to Tilak Lane and returned later.

“When I came back, I asked Apoorva (Rohit’s wife) about him, she told me he was tired, so he had dinner and went to sleep,” said Ujjwala.

“I left for Tilak Lane at around 11.30 pm that day and returned around 2 pm the next day but could not meet her son. I had severe pain in my thumb, so I immediately took an appointment at Max Hospital. Before leaving, I asked Apoorva about Rohit. She told me he was sleeping and I thought I shouldn’t disturb him,” she said.

“I trusted Apoorva and did not question her as to why was Rohit sleeping till so late,” she said.   

Ujjwala said she reached Max Hospital around 4.30 pm and went to the emergency ward. “Rajeev (who was accompanying her to the hospital) received a call from a domestic help who said Rohit was smeared in blood and asked us to come with an ambulance. My car was parked near an ambulance. I ensured that an ambulance left for my home immediately,” she recalled.

Ujjwala said that while on her way home, she dialed Dr Sumit Sethi, who had been treating Shekhar since 2007 when he first suffered a heart attack. “Apoorva and Rohit tied the nuptial knot in 2018. It was a love marriage. Before that, they were seeing each other for a year,” Ujjwala said.

Delhi Police Thursday registered a case of murder into the death of Rohit, hours after his autopsy report stated that he died of asphyxia due to strangulation.

“The medical board unanimously concluded that the cause of death in this case is asphyxia as a result of strangulation and smothering. It is a sudden unnatural death,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, the head of the AIIMS’ forensic department.

Crime Branch officials on Friday visited Rohit Shekhar’s house in Defence Colony and questioned his family members and domestic helps. A forensics team too visited the house.