DHAKA: Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, wife of union minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at the five-star The Leela Palace Hotel in Delhi on Friday evening.

The incident took place two days after she said she was deeply disturbed by an alleged affair her husband was having with a Pakistani journalist.

Sunanda was 52; she has a 21-year-old son from an earlier marriage.

Sources said a suicide note has not been found. A post-mortem will be conducted Saturday. A tweet by her very early on Friday morning, in response to someone who wished her well, said "will try got so many issues diagnosed in KIMS that know who knows when I got 2 go with joy Hastay hua jayegay (sic)."

Tharoor and she checked into the Leela on Thursday because their home was being painted, the minister`s assistant said. Tharoor returned to their suite at 8:30 pm after spending the day at the mega-conclave organised by his party, the Congress. When she didn`t open the door to her bedroom, he asked the hotel staff to help him enter the room.

Tharoor had tweeted at 8:01 pm on Friday that he would not attend the Jaipur Literature Festival because his wife was unwell.

On Wednesday, in a series of tweets, Tharoor accused Pakistani reporter Mehr Tarar of "stalking" the minister.

That evening, she told NDTV`s Group Editor Barkha Dutt that she planned to seek a divorce and was "heart-broken", details not reported by NDTV because it was seen as a private matter. She said she wanted to do an interview with NDTV.

In a phone interview on Thursday, she did not refer to a divorce but reiterated her charges against Tarar.

The couple then issued a statement which said they are "happily married" and "intend to stay that way." The statement added that Tharoor was unwell and sought privacy from the media.

The Tharoors were married in 2010, the third wedding for both of them.

Source: NDTV
BDST: 1000 HRS, JAN 18, 2014
MR/RS