New Delhi, Aug 21 : Saras, the wife of embattled former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, has defended her husband saying that he was never indecent towards Geetika and treated her like his own daughter.
In an interview to Indian Express, Saras Kanda said, her husband wept when he first heard the news of Geetika's suicide.
“My husband was about to leave for office when he received a call from one of the staff members, informing him that Geetika had hanged herself. He started weeping and kept saying that there was some conspiracy behind Geetika's suicide,” Saras said.
She said she was about to leave for Geetika's house in Delhi's Ashok Vihar area to “console” her parents when news of Kanda's name being mentioned in the suicide note flashed on TV screens.
“I still cannot believe such allegations are being levelled against my husband. Geetika's mother used to say that when she would marry her off, Gopal would perform all the roles of a mama (maternal uncle),” Saras said.
Kanda's wife gave this interview two days after the arrest of her husband, during a prayer meanised at her Gurgaon him to seek "divine intervention" in the case.
Saras Kanda revealed how the two families shared "good" relations and had visited Shirdi shrine together.
.“I had once gone to office and told Gopal that I wanted to visit Shirdi for my birthday. Geetika was also present there and mentioned that her parents also wanted to visit the temple. It was sheer coincidence that the trip was planned together. It was wonderful. We stayed for a night at Shirdi and then spent one night at a hotel in Mumbai before returning.”
She said they were not “particularly close” to anyone and treated all staff members equally, Geetika included.
“It has been my habit to invite all staff members to any family function that we organise. We had no personal relations with Geetika or Aruna Chadha (MDLR official also named by Geetika and now in custody). It was all limited to office. They too attended functions like other employees,” Saras said.
Since Geetika and her brother Ankit were of the same age as Kanda's eldest daughter, they had attended each other's birthday parties a “few times”, she said.
Saras claimed to know nothing about the role of Aruna Chadha in her husband's life but said she “trusted him completely”.
She rejected claims that Kanda visited Dubai to bring back Geetika after she left MDLR for a job with the Emirates.
Calling it a “stretched story”, she said, “There was nothing of that sort. Even if he had gone to Dubai, it might have been for some other work. He used to anyways travel a lot.”
Geetika's family, she claimed, was “also very happy” with the decision of her “comeback” and would often tell the Kandas how their daughter was amidst “her own” people. Geetika could not have returned to MDLR without her parents' approval, she added.
“Had they found my husband to be an indecent man, they would not have sent their daughter. We could not have forced them for anything. They may say anything now but the fact is nothing wrong took place. She had not been there for a brief period; six years is a long time to judge someone,” Saras said
