Chandni Lamba’s Suicide: Note Alleges Betrayal, No Arrest in 8 Months

Chandni Lamba’s Suicide Note Alleges Betrayal by Lover

Chandni Lamba, a 35-year-old woman from Delhi, committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan on July 26, 2024. Since the last eight months, her parents, Dr. Satish Lamba and Shobha Lamba, have been moving from pillar to post for justice for their deceased daughter.

Speaking to The Probe, they detailed their ordeal. “The day after my daughter committed suicide, we started visiting Kalkaji Police Station in Delhi requesting the police to take action. Since then we have made several visits to the police station and have met several police officials including the higher-ups. However, the police’s investigation in the case has been very shady,” said Dr. Satish Lamba, Chandni’s father.

Suicide Note Alleges Betrayal

The Probe has accessed Chandni’s suicide note, which reads: “I end my life today. I have been struggling since 2 years. I loved Abhinav and he ruined my life. I have no reason to live. I am no more the person I used to be. Each day I have begged for bare minimum love. I have fought daily. I have been humiliated zillion times. It’s hard to live a life where I have lost my self. This guy never loved me. Only used me and kept me like his option. My work was never respected. I was never respected. I fought with my parents and he never stood by me. Lied to me and fooled me. I give up. His ignorance has killed me. 2 years of mental and emotional torture I have tolerated. I am hurt and shattered into zillion pieces. I hate you Abhinav.”

On July 30, 2024, Kalkaji Police registered an FIR under BNS Section 108 (Abetment of Suicide) against Dr. Abhinav Tomar and his mother, Dr. Shashi Prabha, based on the parents’ allegations that their daughter’s death resulted from “instigation” by the accused persons. The parents have stated in the FIR that their daughter was employed at a Big 4 MNC and had met Tomar on a matrimonial website in mid-2022. After six months of dating, he proposed marriage in January 2023. The parents allege it was a “hoax” to sexually exploit her under the false pretext of marriage. The complaint notes a June 2023 Goa trip where Tomar allegedly exploited Chandni, later demanding a house in Goa as dowry when pressed about wedding plans.

According to her parents, a month before her death, on June 26, 2024, she posted a WhatsApp status: “Dr Abhinav Tomar is responsible for my suicide, he killed me. I loved him and he used me.” The parents allege Tomar called her, asking her to delete the status message with a “false assurance” of visiting their Kalkaji home to discuss marriage. According to her parents, on July 21, 2024, just five days before her death, she visited Tomar’s residence in Baraut, Baghpat, UP, returning with his promise to plan the wedding. On July 26, she returned from work distraught. At 8:30 PM, her mother Shobha states that she heard her “crying inconsolably” and begging Tomar over the phone to honour his promise. “My wife tried knocking at her bedroom door several times, however, our daughter did not respond,” Dr. Lamba states. At about 9 PM, her mother found her dead after unlocking the room using a duplicate key.

Dr. Satish Lamba told The Probe: “The investigation has changed multiple hands and the phone of Dr. Tomar was seized after many weeks. He was using 2 to 3 numbers. But they seized only one mobile. We kept asking the police why the mobile phone of the second accused person was not seized. My daughter took loan to fulfil his demands. She was paying his bills. She used to also pay for his travel. He looted and cheated her. She was so traumatised. She admitted to me that there was physical relation involved. He did it on the pretext of marriage. The major evidence is her last call. At 8.55 PM the last call she received before her death was from Abhinav Tomar to my daughter. I want to know why the Delhi police has still not arrested him even when multiple evidence shows the commission of the crime.”

8 Months On, Family Fights for Justice

The family alleges the delayed seizure of Tomar’s phone may have allowed him to delete incriminating data, such as call logs or messages, vital to proving abetment under BNS Section 108. They allege that eight months after the FIR, no arrests have been made, and no chargesheet filed, despite the suicide note, WhatsApp chats, and many material evidence in the case. BNS Section 108, a cognizable and non-bailable offense, carries up to 10 years’ imprisonment. 

Shobha Lamba adds: “Once I overheard him telling my daughter that I don’t care if you cry or die. I told him that he cannot talk to my daughter like that. Then he told my daughter that I am threatening him. He used to mentally harass her on FaceTime calling. The only mistake that she did was she truly loved this man. When she committed suicide, I took a photo of my daughter and sent it to him but he did not answer my call. I want justice for my daughter.”

"I Didn’t Promise to Marry Her"

The Probe reached out to Dr. Abhinav Tomar for a comment on the allegations leveled against him by the victim and her family. Tomar said, “I am not at all involved in it and I am not to be blamed at all. I used to know her and there were some differences and long time back we were in a relationship and we had broken up. I never promised her for marriage. I never told her or her parents that I will marry her. We met through Bumble App. I have been cooperating with the police. I was in the police station on 27 March also.”

When asked why he made the last call to her before her death if they had broken up, he stated: “I made the last call. You see, I am a doctor and I was seeing a patient at that time. She was making a lot of calls and she was sending me many texts to which I replied let me call you back as I was seeing an emergency patient. Then I called her.” On the content of the last call, he said: “She asked me to talk to her that’s all. She asked me to meet her up. I told her that I was seeing a patient and that I will call her back. That’s it.”

When asked when he had learned of her death and why he had not responded when her mother had sent him a photo of her dead body, he said: “I did not receive any picture. I did not see any picture. Her mother called me up but I couldn’t answer the call. I got to know about her death on 28 July only.”

"She Had a Tendency to Write Suicide Letters," Claims Accused

Regarding the suicide note, Tomar said: “I don’t know about the last suicide note but I know that there are multiple suicide letters. She has this tendency to send suicide letters. She keeps on sending such letters. She had suicidal tendencies. I told her mother, that see your daughter has some suicidal tendencies, let us take her for therapy.” On the June 26th WhatsApp status, he acknowledged the status message she had posted and said: “I did not ask her to delete the status message.”

Investigating Officer Arrested by CBI

The investigation into Lamba’s suicide took a dramatic turn in August 2024 when Sub Inspector Sunil Verma, the initial Investigating Officer from Kalkaji Police Station, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a bribery case. The CBI’s FIR against Verma stemmed from a complaint alleging he demanded illegal gratification and threatened the complainant with false charges—raising immediate questions about his handling of Lamba’s case. Did Verma’s actions contribute to the “shady” investigation her parents decried, particularly the delayed seizure of Tomar’s mobile phone, which the family believes allowed critical evidence to be erased?

With Verma’s arrest exposing potential corruption, the case saw a revolving door of at least four investigating officers, each shift potentially disrupting continuity and accountability. The Lamba family wonders if the CBI’s probe into Verma uncovered broader rot within Kalkaji Police Station that might explain why, months after the FIR, no arrests were made and key evidence—like chats, call logs and financial transactions—remains unaddressed.

Now under the purview of the District Investigation Unit (DIU) in South East District, the case has been handed to a specialised team, but the family’s hope hangs in the balance. What is the DIU doing differently to rectify the failures of Kalkaji Police—have they re-examined Tomar’s phone, secured the last call records from 8:55 PM on July 26, 2024, or traced Chandni’s loans to substantiate her parents’ claims of exploitation?

Dr. Satish and Shobha Lamba, who have tirelessly sought justice since July 2024, await assurances from the DIU that their daughter’s suicide note and WhatsApp accusations will finally carry weight. As media scrutiny intensifies in the case, could public pressure force a breakthrough, or will the case languish further, leaving Chandni’s parents to wonder if their fight will ever yield the closure they seek?

The Probe reached out to ACP JS Mishra, who has been overseeing the investigation in Chandni Lamba's case. When asked why the accused has not been arrested or the accused’s mother’s phone has still not been seized, Mishra stated: “You seem to have more information regarding the case than me.” When pressed further on how he could say this about an ongoing investigation, he said: “You can speak to the DCP on this.” The Probe has tried to contact the DCP South East District on the story; we will update the story as soon as we connect with the DCP.

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