Raqif Makhdoomi
Twenty five year old Ketan Agarwal visited Pune’s Lohagad Fort with his fiancée, Siya Goyal. The couple was scheduled to marry six months later. However, according to the police investigation, Siya had allegedly planned something entirely different.
Police allege that Siya was being forced into the marriage despite being in a relationship with Chetan Chaudhary. Investigators claim that the two conspired to murder Ketan. The incident took place on June 18. Initially, it was treated as an accident. The case took a dramatic turn only after Ketan’s sister noticed contradictions in Siya’s statements and grew suspicious.
Siya allegedly told Ketan’s sister that he had slipped while clicking her photograph. However, Ketan’s sister found this difficult to believe because Ketan was an experienced trekker. She questioned how someone so familiar with trekking could lose his balance so easily. When confronted, Siya allegedly began changing her version of events, raising further suspicion. That ultimately led investigators to uncover what they believe was the truth behind the incident.
Ketan did not belong to an ordinary family. At just 25, he was serving as a Director in his family’s business group. A lavish wedding was planned for November at the Ananta Resort in Udaipur. According to Siya’s mother, the venue booking alone cost around Rs 3 crore, while the wedding budget was estimated at nearly Rs 5 crore. Police sources have claimed that the overall celebrations could have cost nearly Rs 14 crore. Two private aircraft had reportedly been arranged to ferry guests to the venue.
Everything was in place for a grand wedding. Instead, Ketan lost his life and Siya landed in jail. While preparations for the marriage were underway, Ketan’s family suddenly found themselves preparing for his last rites instead of his wedding. Siya’s family, too, never imagined they would be meeting their daughter in prison instead of at her matrimonial home. Both families continue to live with unimaginable grief.
If Siya was indeed being forced into the marriage, does that justify taking Ketan’s life? Certainly not.
According to the police, Siya stated that she had informed Ketan that she was unwilling to marry him, but he continued with the wedding preparations despite her objections.
This case offers an important lesson. Had Siya not been forced into a marriage she did not want, regardless of the reasons, two families might have been spared this immense tragedy.
Even today, many parents consider it a matter of prestige to marry their daughters according to their own wishes, without giving them the freedom to choose their life partner. Some women, like the accused in this case, allegedly take an extreme and criminal path. Others spend their lives trapped in unhappy marriages. Neither path is acceptable.
Investigators believe Siya feared the social consequences of calling off the engagement. This case should serve as an eye opener for a society that often interferes in the personal decisions of others. If breaking an engagement or seeking a divorce were viewed as normal life choices rather than social failures, perhaps such tragedies could be prevented. Social stigma continues to influence many lives, yet society often chooses to normalize it instead of confronting it.
Chetan Chaudhary, one of the accused in the case, is alleged by the police to have played a role in the conspiracy. His family, however, strongly denies the allegations.
According to his father, Chetan had no involvement in the murder and is being falsely implicated because both Ketan and Siya belonged to affluent families. His father claims that their family had never even met Siya and accuses sections of the media of unnecessarily sensationalising the case.
However, the call records present a different picture. Police say that Siya and Chetan spoke 2,004 times between January 1 and June 18, spending nearly 238 hours on calls during that period.
Before anyone concludes that call records alone prove guilt, it is important to understand the legal position. As a law student, I must point out that call records merely establish communication between two individuals. They do not, by themselves, prove participation in a crime. Several court judgments have held that call detail records alone cannot establish criminal involvement.
Police have also stated that CCTV footage places Chetan at Lohagad Fort on the day of the incident. Whether his presence amounts to criminal participation remains a matter for investigation and judicial determination.
According to investigators, Chetan switched off his mobile internet at around 7 am on June 18 and remained offline until about 5.40 pm. Police allege that he deliberately left his own phone at his shop and carried the phone of one of his employees to avoid location tracking. These allegations, however, must ultimately be proved in court through credible evidence.
Investigators also claim that whenever calls were made to Chetan’s number during that period, they were answered by employees at his shop rather than by Chetan himself. Police believe these circumstances strengthen their case, although every link in the chain of evidence will have to withstand judicial scrutiny.
For law students and legal professionals, this case demonstrates the importance of establishing a complete chain of circumstances in cases based largely on circumstantial evidence.
The Ketan Agarwal case is not an isolated incident. India has witnessed several cases in recent years where spouses or partners have allegedly conspired to kill those closest to them.
The Raja Raghuvanshi murder case shocked the nation, where a wife allegedly murdered her husband during their honeymoon with the help of her boyfriend and hired contract killers.
The Meerut Blue Drum case involving Saurabh Rajput also drew nationwide attention after the victim was allegedly murdered by his wife and her lover, and his body concealed inside a drum.
The Atul Subhash suicide triggered a national debate after he left behind videos alleging mental harassment, false criminal cases, financial exploitation, and extortion by his wife’s family.
In another case from Bengaluru, Kiran was allegedly tied up and set on fire by his wife. He later succumbed to his injuries.
The Alwar Blue Drum case followed a similar pattern, where a husband was allegedly murdered, dismembered, and his body concealed after his wife reportedly entered into an extramarital relationship.
These are only a few cases that received widespread media coverage. Many others remain unnoticed.
According to data published by the National Crime Records Bureau, men too face domestic violence, harassment, and abuse. Yet India does not have a gender neutral legal framework dealing comprehensively with domestic violence against men. This has led to an ongoing debate among legal experts and activists regarding the need for legal reforms that address genuine victims irrespective of gender.
It is time to seriously examine whether existing laws adequately protect all victims of domestic abuse and harassment. Justice should be available to every victim, regardless of gender.
Raqif Makhdoomi is a law student and human rights activist.
