Hema Upadhyay case: Contradictions in murder case, claim Chintan friends
Three months after the Kandivali double murder and two days after the chargesheet was submitted in the court, friends of Chintan Upadhyay in the art world have come forward with documents that Hema Upadhyay had submitted in the Bombay high court during the couple’s divorce battle. They said these documents contradict statements that Hema’s family gave to the police and the media after her death.
In her appeal for maintenance to the high court, Hema had stated that Chintan was a very famous artist in the Indian as well as international art world. “She had mentioned as many as 15 centres where Chintan’s art was showcased. Along with it, she named celebrities who had purchased his artworks to inform the court that he was earning much more than her and, hence, he should pay her more,” stated Amir Rizvi, a friend of Chintan.
He continued, “Hema’s cousin Deepak Prasad, after her death, told the police and media that Chintan had been upset and angry with her because he was not earning as much as she did. These two statements are very contradictory and authorities need to verify them.”
Chintan’s friends also said that the divorce case was filed in 2010, and as the couple had agreed to part ways because they couldn’t live together, Chintan decided to move Delhi.
They said Hema’s family maintains that he never paid any maintenance or bills for the flat; but Chintan’s family stated that, as he was not staying there, he was not supposed to pay for it.
They also claimed that Hema’s family gave an affidavit to the high court last April stating that it had not received information about the payment of Rs 16 lakh from Chintan whereas the money was paid in December, 2014 and he was in possession of a receipt.
Chintan’s friends have also started a social media campaign for the couple ‘#JusticeForHemaAndChintan’ but Mr Prasad, speaking to The Asian Age on the phone from Bankok, on Sunday objected to this. “They (artists) are using Hema’s name to gain sympathy for Chintan to save him.”
