Former employee's suicide forces Haryana minister to quit

New Delhi/Gurgaon: Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda resigned on Sunday night, hours after being booked in a case of abetment to  suicide, after a former woman employee of his now defunct airline MDLR allegedly committed suicide accusing him of harassment. 23-year-old former air hostess Geetika Sharma, who quit Kanda’s company recently, allegedly took the extreme step at her Ashok Vihar residence in north-west Delhi, apparently depressed over continuing mental harassment allegedly by Kanda and which was mentioned in her suicide note. [caption id=“attachment_406321” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kanda tendered his resignation after the case was filed against him. PTI[/caption] 46-year-old Kanda, an independent MLA from Sirsa, is the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Urban Bodies and  Industry and Commerce “I have tendered my resignation and requested Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to accept it. I have resigned to ensure an impartial probe. I have full faith in the law of the land. I am confident that I will come out clean after investigations are held,” he told reporters at his residence in Gurgaon. Denying having any direct links with the suicide victim, Kanda said he was a victim of “conspiracy”. Delhi Police received a call about the incident at 9:20 AM and found she had hung herself. The police had to enter  her room through a ventilator since it was locked from inside. She was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead. Sharma had alleged that Kanda was pressurising Sharma to rejoin his firm, which she had left recently to pursue MBA, a senior police officer said. “We have registered a case of abetment to suicide against Kanda and Aruna Chaddha, a manager with Kanda’s firm,” P Karunakaran, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West), said. In her suicide note, Geetika had claimed that Kanda was torturing her mentally after she left her job in his company and was pressurising her to join his firm again. “She has written about the Haryana Minister in the suicide note. The MDLR group said it was cooperating with the police probe.” PTI