Bengaluru: A suicide pact between an interfaith couple at a homestay in Chikkaballapur was driven by intense family opposition to their relationship, police said.The incident, which occurred late last month, left one person dead and the other fighting for life. Medical findings and police investigation have now shed light on the circumstances leading up to the tragedy and the couple’s final hours.On the morning of June 29, staff at Nandi Skandagiri Heritage near Nandi Hills found Sai Surabhi, 26, dead and her live-in partner, Mohammed Sanjeet Ali, 27, unconscious inside their rented room. Ali was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors managed to stabilise him. Surabhi was declared dead.Later that day, Surabhi’s mother, Geeta, lodged a complaint with police, alleging that Ali had murdered her daughter. According to her, Ali had been harassing Surabhi to marry him. She claimed that in 2025, he had assaulted Surabhi over the same issue. Geeta also alleged that after discovering Ali had made Surabhi addicted to drugs, she admitted her daughter to a de-addiction centre for treatment. After completing treatment, Surabhi had joined a hospital in Chikkaballapur district as a physiotherapist and was trying to rebuild her life. However, Ali later got in touch with her, and the two decided to meet at the homestay, which had been booked by Ali.Toxicology and medical reports confirmed Surabhi and Ali consumed a lethal cocktail of alcohol and sleeping pills which were previously prescribed to Surabhi for depression.Investigation also revealed a chilling backup plan. To ensure neither survived, Ali tied a rope to the room’s ceiling fan before they took the drugs, telling Surabhi that if the pills failed to end their lives, they would resort to hanging.Surabhi’s mother had alleged that she was a victim of ‘love jihad’ and accused Ali of plotting the murder.Chikkaballapur superintendent of police Kushal Chouksey told TOI that the case is being investigated from the murder angle. “We are probing whether Ali consumed fewer pills than Surabhi so that he could survive while she died. We are still awaiting additional medical reports, which we hope will answer some of the unresolved questions. However, based on Ali’s statement, it appears to have been a suicide pact in which the woman died,” he said.Another officer said that although Ali had booked the room alone on June 27, Surabhi joined him later that same evening. “The homestay staff were unaware that Surabhi was staying with Ali. Medical reports indicate that both consumed pills mixed with alcohol by Sunday evening,” he said.Sai Surabhi, a resident of Basavanagudi in Bengaluru, had known Ali, a Kerala native and BE Mechanical graduate who worked as a cab driver, for the past three years. In 2025, Surabhi had reportedly gone with Ali to Tamil Nadu. Following this, her mother filed a missing person complaint with police. When police traced her along with Ali, Surabhi told them that she was an adult and had the right to choose her partner.
