In an interview, Praveen Goyal, the father of Siya Goyal, the prime suspect in the murder of her fiancé Ketan Agarwal, stated that his daughter should receive the harshest possible punishment if she is found guilty, even suggesting she deserves to be hanged. The remarks came days after police alleged that Siya Goyal and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, conspired to murder Ketan by pushing him into a gorge at Pune's Lohagad Fort on 18 June. Both of the accused are currently in judicial custody.
Speaking to the media, Goyal said he was still struggling to come to terms with the allegations against his daughter and revealed that the shock of her arrest had landed him in an intensive care unit. He expressed that he still found it impossible to believe his daughter could do something like this, noting that she had never lied to him and had always followed the right path.
However, Goyal made it clear that his emotions as a father would not obstruct the course of justice. He insisted that if his daughter is found guilty, the court should not delay justice, and she should be given the maximum penalty.
At one point during the interview, Goyal went even further, stating that if the allegations were proved, his daughter deserved the same fate that police claim Ketan met at Lohagad Fort. He suggested taking her to the same fort and pushing her off the same place, explicitly adding that she could be given the death penalty. Despite these severe remarks, Goyal maintained that he could not reconcile the allegations with the daughter he thought he knew.
Siya's parents also insisted they had never noticed any signs of discord between the couple. Her mother, Pooja Goyal, told reporters that the couple used to video call each other, meet regularly and appeared happy together, adding that Ketan frequently came to their home for dinner and that they never received any indication that something was wrong.
Rejecting claims that Siya was unwilling to marry Ketan, the family pointed out that they had spent nearly ₹50,000 shopping for a planned pre-wedding trip to Bali. Her mother argued that if Siya had told them she did not want to marry Ketan, they would not have spent so much on wedding preparations.
Praveen Goyal added that Ketan was like a son to him, and the loss had utterly shattered both families. He denied allegations levelled by Agarwal's father that the girl's family had concealed certain facts from them, reiterating that they had absolutely no inkling of any trouble in the relationship or of his daughter's affair with a third person. He described Siya as a simple girl who always appeared genuinely happy about her upcoming wedding.
According to the Pune Police, Siya Goyal and Chetan Chaudhary plotted Ketan Agarwal's murder after she allegedly decided against calling off the engagement because she feared it would bring shame to her family. Investigators claim the two pushed Ketan into a gorge at Lohagad Fort following earlier failed attempts on his life, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Also read: Suspicion of Ketan's sister helped untangle Pune murder plot
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