Mumbai: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the suicide of state BJP minister Pankaja Munde‘s personal assistant’s dentist wife has not yet found any evidence to prove abetment to suicide charges against the husband, his sister and brother, police sources said.An official said that the abetment to suicide charges may not stick and the offence may attract only criminal sections of cruelty by husband or his relative, which if proved, attracts three-year imprisonment as compared to 10 years for abetment to suicide.Munde’s aide, Arun Garje, married dental surgeon Dr Gauri Palave, 27, in Feb 2025. On Nov 22, she was found dead in their flat in the redeveloped Worli BDD chawl. Her parents alleged she had been mentally and physically harassed by her husband, who had been in a relationship with another woman, and his relatives. Arun Garje was arrested the next day for abetment to suicide, and given the high-profile nature of the case, a SIT, headed by DCP Ragasudha R, was constituted to probe the matter.A medical report found the dentist died due to asphyxia and ruled out strangulation or foul play. The SIT has so far looked at two medical reports. The first by state-run JJ Hospital said the doctor died due to hanging. The second, pinpointing asphyxia as cause of death, was submitted last week by another panel of doctors.The report and other circumstances leading up to the death has shaped the SIT’s view on the case. Advocate Prashant Patil said, “BNS Section 108 which talks about abatement to commit suicide is the most commonly abused provision of law. When we interpret the applicability of the section, we have to understand provisions of BNS Section talk about “instigation” with criminal intent of creating circumstances so bad for the victim that the victim has no choice but to commit suicide. We need evidence to that effect. Mere words or sentences uttered in a fit of rage cannot attract the provisions of this law.” Officials added that the SIT’s investigation has looked at reports from hospitals, CCTV footage and call detail reports, statements. “The panels have opined that Gauri’s death was due to asphyxia,” said an official.The sequence of events and the timings –when Gauri made her last call to Garje while he was travelling on the Bandra Worli-Sealink–have matched with his CDR and location.The initial police inquiry had found she had called her husband half an hour before the incident. He was near the Bandra-Worli sea link, and rushed home to find her dead.However, according to the police, Anant Garje, instead of calling the police, took the body off the noose and hid the piece of cloth she had used. When he was arrested the next day, he told the police he had hid the cloth to protect his family from shame. “He claimed he felt Gauri was still breathing and could be saved by doctors,” said the police officer.The dentist’s father Ashok Palave has maintained that Arun Garje would fight with her over minor issues. On Sept 30, 2025, she sent her father photographs of documents found while shifting residences. It included a consent letter and declaration from Mamta Hospital, Latur, dated Nov 16, 2021, indicating a woman was pregnant and Anant Garje was listed as her husband. On Oct 3, 2025, on Anant Garje’s birthday, her parents arrived unannounced and noticed injuries on her face and neck. She initially gave evasive replies but later said that she was being harassed over the document.
