Family members of the 25-year-old Air India pilot found dead at her Mumbai home have alleged that her boyfriend, who has been arrested for abetment to suicide, would humiliate her publicly, harass her mentally and extort money from her.

Srishti Tuli was found dead at her rented home in Mumbai’s Marol area on Monday. She allegedly used a data cable to hang herself after an argument with her boyfriend Aditya Pandit (27) over the phone. Aditya has told police that he rushed to her flat to find the door locked. A key maker was called in, the door was opened Srishti was rushed to hospital, where she was declared dead. Police have not found a suicide note in the flat.

Srishti was from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and her family is struggling to cope with the shocking loss. Her uncle Vivek Tuli said, “They are saying she died by suicide, but I don’t believe it. She was strong, otherwise she would not be a pilot. We have come to know about her friend (Aditya), who started training with her but could not complete the course. He was jealous of her and would harass her.”

According to the FIR, Srishti met Aditya during her training for commercial flying in Delhi. While she completed the course, Aditya dropped out. Srishti moved to Mumbai last year after getting her flying license.

Mr Tuli said they had gone through Srishti’s bank account statement. “We have managed to check only one month’s statement so far. Around Diwali, about Rs 65,000 was transferred to his family members. I am convinced that he was blackmailing her. I have now asked the bank for the whole year’s statement. Maybe, she had refused him money and that became the cause of her death.”

Aditya lives in Faridabad near Delhi and often travelled to Mumbai to stay with Srishti. “Police are saying that she died by suicide. I don’t know how he manipulated her and pushed her to the edge. What did he do? She spoke to her mother and aunt cheerfully just 15 minutes before her death.” 

Mr Tuli said Srishti had not told her family about any harassment she was facing. “She had narrated bits and pieces to her sister. But when I met her friends, they told me the extent to which he harassed her. He would scream at her publicly. There were times when he made her get out of the car in the middle of the road and drove away,” he said.

He said the family would approach Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for justice. “We are from Gorakhpur. I would go and request Yogi ji for justice. I cannot accept that she died by suicide.”

Mr Tuli alleged that another woman pilot was involved in Srishti’s death. “We came to know that another woman was there. She called in the keymaker, got him to open the door and took Srishti to the hospital. Who opens the door and enters someone’s flat without calling the cops? And these are trained pilots. And why would a key maker randomly open a door from outside?” The family has alleged that Aditya also pressured Srishti to stop eating non-vegetarian food. Recently, they fought after she could not attend his sister’s engagement ceremony.

The family has filed a complaint and the police have registered an FIR under the abetment to suicide charge and arrested Pandit.