Wife of Indian minister found dead at Delhi hotel

File photo of Tharoors (Pic: Mid-Day)

NEW DELHI (AA) - The wife of junior minister and former UN under-secretary, Shashi Tharoor, was found dead on Friday evening.

Police sources confirmed to Anadolu Agency that Mrs Tharoor was found dead in her hotel room, but they are unable to divulge any further details while the investigation is ongoing.

Mr Tharoor, who was away attending a day-long Congress party meeting, broke open the door with the help of a hotel attendant after there was no response from inside.

A post-mortem will be conducted on Saturday morning.

Three days ago she said she was distressed by the scandal of an alleged affair between her husband and a Pakistani journalist.

Mrs Tharoor on Wednesday accused Mehr Tarar in a series of tweets of "stalking" her politician husband, who responded to deny these allegations.

Responding to the news of Mrs Tharoor's death, Tarar expressed her schock and sent her condolences.

The high-profile couple issued a statement on Thursday saying they are "happily married" and intend to remain that way. They couple were seeking privacy from the media as Mrs Tharoor was unwell.

The couple married in 2010, during that year the politician had to resign from his ministerial post after allegations surfaced his wife had been given a free stake in the Kerala team in the Indian Premier Cricket League.

Tharoor is an internationally-acclaimed writer and has spent more than two decades at the UN.

Anadolu Agency, January 17, 2014