Birthday Trip Horror: What was meant to celebrate a bride-to-be’s 20th birthday ended in tragedy after she’s accused of sending her fiancé over a cliff
The couple were preparing for an arranged marriage, but the bride allegedly had a secret relationship on the side, police say
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Ketan-Agarwal-2-062926-0eb8e243671b4b8980fc0df3b842c0d5.jpg)
Ketan Agarwal fell to his death at Lohagad Fort on June 18.Credit : Linkedin; ALEX OGLE/AFP via Getty
A pre-wedding hike turned deadly when engaged couple Ketan Agarwal and Siya Goyal visited Lohagad Fort in Pune, India.
Goyal allegedly asked her fiance Agarwal to join her on the hike in celebration of her 20th birthday on June 18. The couple, who got engaged in February, were set to have an arranged marriage in November, The Times reports.
The hike occurred despite a similar hike happening days before in which Goyal almost pushed Agarwal off a cliff, claiming to try to protect him from a nearby snake. However, this time, Agarwal fell 390 feet to his death off a cliff.
Goyal initially told authorities that Agarwal, 26, was taking photos when he slipped and fell as a result of the wind. But when Agarwal’s family asked police to investigate further, a very different story emerged.
Police uncovered evidence that Goyal had been in a secret relationship with Chetan Chaudhary, 22, while engaged to Agarwal. The couple is accused of conspiring to murder Agarwal in an attempt to continue their romance.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/lohagad-hill-fort-062926-fb2b143756ef4394ba0334ea9c764c8f.jpg)
Lohagad Fort (stock image).
ALEX OGLE/AFP via Getty
According to Pune police (per The Times), both Goyal and Chaudhary have confessed to murder and remain in custody.
“The phone data shows she didn’t want to marry Agarwal. She wanted to be with Chaudhary,” Superintendent Sandeep Singh Gill told local media, per The Times.
The couple’s phones also showed internet searches on how to commit murder.
“Our probe suggests that Siya and Chetan have been in a relationship since October last year after they connected during a Diwali celebration,” a police officer shared, per The Indian Express. “Chetan used multiple phone numbers. Analysis of call detail records between Siya and Chetan shows they exchanged over 4,400 calls in the last year.”
Surveillance footage has since been shared of a man wearing a hood in the extreme heat and hiking at Lohagad Fort, who is believed to be Chaudhary.
Radhikesh Uttarwar, who is representing Chaudhary, told the court that investigators are still reviewing the surveillance footage to determine whether the man in the video is Chaudhary, according to local outlet Pune Pulse.
Both Agarwal and Goyal’s families are wealthy with Agarwal working in his family’s real estate firm and Goyal’s parents running a spice and dried fruit business. Goyal’s parents, who were brought in for hours of questioning, have since shown their allegiance to the Agarwal family.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Ketan-Agarwal-062926-16b11e5e41aa491cb2d626abed9f92cc.jpg)
Her father Praveen added of the Agarwal family, “They’ve lost their son, and their son was ours, too. We loved him so much,” told local outlet NDTV.
Goyal and Chaudhary have since blamed each other for orchestrating the alleged murder plot, according to local outlet NDTV.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Pune Police for comment on the case.
