Pune Fort Murder: Victim's Father Says Family Would Have Called Off Wedding Had They Known of Affair
The father of Ketan Agarwal, who was allegedly pushed to his death from a cliff at Lohagad Fort in Pune by his fiancee and her lover, has said that the family would have called off the wedding had they known about the relationship. Vishal Agarwal told NDTV that his family had no inkling of any affair and would have cancelled the marriage if they had been informed.
Ketan Agarwal, 26, was engaged to Siya Goyal in February, with a grand wedding planned for November. On June 18, Ketan died after falling into a gorge while trekking with Siya at Lohagad Fort. Initially treated as an accidental death, a police investigation revealed that Siya and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, had pushed him.
According to police, Siya and Chetan were in a relationship. Ketan's father expressed shock that the woman never revealed her intentions. 'Every other day, Ketan and Siya would go to dinners. She used to call him, my daughter and my wife... We didn't know about her relationship with another man. Siya never told my son about her affair. He, however, once told me that Siya's phone would remain in waiting mode... her phone always used to remain busy,' he said.
When Ketan confronted her about her phone being busy, she said she had been talking to her friends. The father said that if Siya had anonymously sent her photo with her boyfriend to the family on WhatsApp, they would have cancelled the marriage. 'We hadn't forced her to get married to Ketan,' he added.
He suspects that Siya's parents and her aunt knew about the affair and pressured her to marry Ketan. 'Maybe they had some planning that we don't know as of yet. The police will find this in the investigation,' he said.
Siya's behavior after the death raised suspicion. Ketan's sister, Sanjana, asked Siya several questions about the incident, but Siya could not answer. 'The questions were general -- how did this happen, when did this happen, why did he go to the edge? She had no answer,' the father said.
Police have revealed that this was not the first attempt on Ketan's life. On May 31, the couple had gone to Lohagad Fort, and Siya insisted on visiting again on June 4, but Ketan's mother prevented him. On June 14, Ketan agreed to go, and Siya allegedly tried to push him off the cliff, but he survived by holding onto a bush. She raised a false alarm about a snake to cover her actions.
On June 18, Siya and Chetan met at a cafe in Pune to plan the murder. Chetan lurked behind while Siya took Ketan to the fort, and together they pushed him into the gorge. Police identified Chetan on CCTV footage because he was wearing a hoodie in hot weather, which seemed suspicious.
Vishal Agarwal demanded the death penalty for those responsible. 'They killed my 26-year-old son for such a trivial matter. Not wanting to marry isn't a massive deal. We would have cancelled it,' he said.
