Air hostess suicide case: Trial against Kanda begins

A fast track court on Monday commenced trial in the suicide case of ex-air hostess Geetika Sharma in which former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda is the main accused.

Kanda is facing trial for alleged offence of rape, unnatural offence and abetting suicide of Sharma, who had worked in his company. His aide Aruna Chadha is also an accused and has been charged with abetting the offences of rape, unnatural sex and the victim's suicide. Eight formal witnesses were examined before additional sessions judge M C Gupta.

They included police personnel and also the doctor who had conducted post-mortem of the victim. The matter is now fixed for July 22. Both the accused have also been charged with forgery for cheating and harming the reputation of the victim.

Chadha had moved Delhi High Court seeking quashing of charges against her. The court has summoned the record of the trial court for May 29. 23-year-old Sharma, who was earlier employed with Kanda's MDLR airlines, was found dead on August 5 at her Ashok Vihar residence in North West Delhi. In her August 4 suicide note, she had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Kanda and Chadha.

The police had in its charge sheet said Kanda was obsessed with the victim and was putting pressure on her to come back to his company.