Viveka’s family accuses boyfriend of abetting suicide

MUMBAI - Six days after former supermodel Viveka Babajee’s suicide, her family members broke their silence Thursday and said they are likely to pursue charges of abetment to suicide against her boyfriend and financial consultant Gautam Vora.

Her family’s representative Dale Bhagwagar, reading out a statement by Viveka’s mother Dayawanti Babajee, said that the family is likely to pursue charges of abetment to suicide against Vora.

“The family is consulting legal experts. Depending on the investigations, if needed, then definitely legal action would be considered,” Bhagwagar told mediapersons here this afternoon.

The family is also planning to hand over copies of the emails exchanged between Viveka and Vora, and her other friends, Kartik and Rohit, to the investigators.

The ex-supermodel’s family said Viveka was “not depressed” and planned to marry Vora.

Media reports said that the 37-year-old was depressed because of a failed relationship with Vora, but Bhagwagar clarified that Viveka was not under depression.

“Two days before, she spoke to her mother. She was happy. There were no signs of depression, rather there was happiness and positivity that reflected during her last interaction with her mother,” Bhagwagar told reporters here.

This is the first time, Babajee’s family has come out and spoken about the model who hanged herself in her Bandra apartment June 25.

Describing her daughter as “a courageous person and a go-getter” who was “independent-minded and had leadership qualities”, Dayawanti said Viveka and Vora were indeed going around and were contemplating marriage.

Dayawanti added in the statement that she (Viveka’s mother) had also spoken to Vora over the phone on one of the occasions.

The family had been questioned by police about “some details” over the last meeting between Viveka and Vora and it had been noted by police, said Bhagwagar.

The family, however, did not wish to interfere with the ongoing police investigations and wanted them to proceed with the way they thought best.

“Let the police interrogate and the family will see what actions can be taken as it is definitely not a case of natural death,” Bhagwagar added.

Talking about Viveka’s relationship with Vora, who is said to be the last person who met Viveka, Bhagwagar said that the two were planning to get married.

“Her mother told me that Vora had proposed to Viveka and he had asked her to undergo a check up to ascertain if she can bear his kids and he was willing to accompany her to the doctor,” he said.

“Viveka had opted for going to the doctor alone, but they were serious about the marriage. Even their ‘kundalis’ had matched,” he said.

Immediately after Viveka’s suicide, Vora had gone underground and surfaced three days later to seek anticipatory bail. He secured relief when a court directed police not to arrest him without 72 hours clear notice.

Meanwhile, police have also been interrogating other friends of Viveka, eyewitnesses and acquaintances to unravel the factors leading to her shocking suicide.

According to Bhagwagar, the Viveka’s family is shocked and confused because they never thought that their daughter could take such an extreme step.

“The family is in great shock. They have been shying away from the media ever since they landed in India from Mauritius four days back,” he said.

“They are simple middle-class people who don’t want to be in the media glare. They are very sensitive, they don’t want to share their grief with the media. It is not important for them to interact with you, but to console each other,” he said.

“Media reports were leading to a lot of speculations and hence we decided to come out with this open press conference,” he added.

Viveka shot to fame in the mid-1990s with the Kamasutra condom ad campaign. Her autopsy report, received by the police Saturday, confirmed that she committed suicide.