Shashi Tharoor cleared of charges in wife's death case

Indian MP and former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor has been cleared of all charges related to aiding his wife's suicide.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in the suite of a five-star hotel in Delhi on 17 January 2014. Her death was initially treated as suicide but police in Delhi later said she had been murdered, reports the BBC.

In 2018, they charged Tharoor with abetment to suicide and cruelty to his spouse - a charge he denied.

A court in Delhi has now exonerated him of all charges citing lack of evidence.

Tharoor, who attended the court proceedings virtually on Wednesday, thanked the court for its verdict.

"It had been seven and half years and it was a torture. I'm so grateful," he said, according to Live Law website.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Tharoor added that the verdict brought a "significant conclusion to the long nightmare" which had enveloped him after his wife's death. "I have weathered dozens of unfounded accusations and media vilification patiently, sustained by my faith in the Indian judiciary, which today stands vindicated," he said.

Tharoor is an MP from the southern state of Kerala for India's main opposition Congress party. A diplomat with 25 years of experience, he served as undersecretary general at the United Nations for communications and public information.

He married Pushkar, a former Dubai-based businesswoman, in 2010.

The cause of Pushkar's death is still unclear. The first post-mortem report suggested she may have died of a drug overdose, but subsequent reports have referred to "poisoning", "mysterious injection marks" and, in one case, a "deep bite" on her palm.