Pune murder case: 'Push her from the same fort if...,' says accused Siya Agarwal's father

The Ketan Agarwal murder case has taken a shocking turn, with the father of the accused, Siya Goyal, saying his daughter should face the harshest punishment if she is found guilty of killing her fiancé. "If my daughter is found guilty, the court should not delay justice. She should be given the same punishment," Praveen Goyal told India Today TV.

Police have alleged that Siya Goyal and her alleged lover, Chetan Chaudhary, conspired to kill Ketan by pushing him into a gorge at Pune's Lohagad Fort on June 18. Both accused are in judicial custody.

Praveen Goyal said he was still unable to believe the allegations against his daughter and that the shock of her arrest had landed him in the intensive care unit. He said his emotions as a father would not come in the way of justice. "I still find it impossible to believe my daughter could do something like this. She never lied to me and always followed the right path," he said.

During the interview, he also said that if the allegations were proved, his daughter deserved the death penalty. He added that Ketan was like a son to him and that the loss had shattered both families.

"We were eagerly preparing for the wedding. Whatever has happened is deeply tragic. Even today, we cannot bring ourselves to believe it," he said.

Siya's parents said they had never noticed any signs of trouble between the couple. "They used to video call each other, meet regularly and appeared happy together. Ketan even came home for dinner. We never got any indication that something was wrong," her mother, Pooja Goyal, told India Today TV.

Rejecting claims that Siya was unwilling to marry Ketan, Pooja Goyal said the family had spent nearly Rs 50,000 shopping for a planned pre-wedding trip to Bali. "If she had told us she didn't want to marry Ketan, why would we have spent so much on wedding shopping?" she said.

Praveen Goyal also denied an allegation by Ketan's father that Siya's family had concealed certain facts from them. He said they had no idea of any problems in the relationship or of his daughter's alleged affair with another man.

According to Pune Police, investigators believe Siya and Chaudhary planned Ketan's murder because she did not want to call off the engagement for fear of bringing shame to her family. Police say they pushed him into the gorge after earlier failed attempts to kill him. The investigation is ongoing.