Tamil TV actor Chitra's husband arrested on abetment to suicide charges

Tamil TV actor VJ Chitra’s husband has been arrested after days of questioning regarding the suicide of his wife. The actor’s mother had earlier alleged that she was beaten to death by her husband though police said the autopsy report claims her death was due to suicide.

The husband, Hemanth, now faces charges for alleged abetment to suicide, reports suggest.

Hemanth and Chitra were engaged in August and had a registered marriage in October. The Indian law stipulates that a magistrate should conduct an inquest into death by suicide of a woman within seven years of marriage.

Chitra, 29, was found dead in her hotel room on December 9 about an hour after she had returned from a shoot. Hemanth told investigators Chitra had asked him to wait outside while she had a shower. When she did not come out for a long time, Hemanth alerted the hotel staff who opened the door with a duplicate key.

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According to the police, financial issues could be behind the actor’s death by suicide.

Hemanth did not apparently like Chitra doing intimate scenes in a TV series, according to the investigators. On the day the actor died, she was also pushed by her husband, said a NDTV report quoting Assistant Commissioner of Police Sudarshan.

The death is being investigated by a Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), who can exercise the powers of a first class executive magistrate, as the actor’s death has occurred within seven years of her marriage.

Chitra has acted in the television series Pandian Stores.

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