Tokha suicide case: Police suspect foul play

Kathmandu, 10 January (2021) - Last Friday a married couple was found dead in Tokha Municipality, Kathmandu. Police suspect that third party may have been involved in the incident.

Umesh KC, 33, and his wife Sudeeksha Giri were found dead in an apartment at Grande Villa Housing.

Police has widened the investigation as evidences on the incident spot points at involvement of third party, one investigating officer told Lokantar.

KC's family members said that the police did not call them while documenting the incident. Backdoor lock was unfastened while front door was intact which indicates at involvement of third party, they say.

"Why didn't the police call us? They could've contacted us by going through documents in the apartment. But they provide irresponsible statements that we couldn't be traced," KC's elder brother Himesh KC told Lokantar. "One can easily guess that someone else is involved in the incident."

Umesh KC's family was in contact with Sudeeksha's elder sister Sharmila Giri only.

But Sharmila did not inform KC family about the incident. They received information from maternal aunt residing in Canada, Himesh claims.

Metropolitan Police Range Spokesperson Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramesh Bista said that preliminary investigation points at suicide but details will emerge only after the postmortem on Sunday.

Umesh's family claims that the police did not find his documents. They say that citizenship card, passport and other essential documents to move to the US were not found which suggests murder.

Umesh had gone to the US to take a postgraduate course and was doing business and had come to Nepal on October 22, 2020.

He had come to Nepal to take Sudeeksha along with him to the US. The couple was making plans to go to the US on 14 January.

Umesh had received the US Green Card last September and had come to take his wife along.

Sudeeksha and Umesh had married against family wishes six years ago. Sudeeksha was living in Tokha apartment under the guardianship of her father's family.

Umesh had been running a coffee shop and restaurant in Washington DC.

He had started a business after completing his studies. He had even lent Sudeeksha's sister Sharmila 20 million rupees to build a house, Himesh said.

"He told us that he had given 20 million rupees to sister to build house," Himesh said. "He also said that he had invested around 90 million rupees in social media site Sagoon."

Sagoon Founder/CEO Govinda Giri is Sudeeksha's close relative, Himesh said. "He told us that he will withdraw that money and invest in other businesses but God had other plans."

The police claims that it reached the incident spot five minutes after the phone call at 9:15 pm on Friday.

Umesh's head was bashed with a stone mortar, police said. There are multiple wounds in his body. Sudeeksha was found hanging from the ceiling.

The police source said that Umesh's body was decomposing and had a foul odor while Sudeeksha's body was in fresh condition.