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Updated:NRI Candian obstetrician Asha Goel's Murder in Mumbai Case:2

Orangeville, Oct. 18, 2005
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Arrests made in murder of Orangeville doctor


More than two years after Orangeville doctor Asha Goel was murdered while visiting her brother in Mumbai, India, police have arrested three men in connection with her death.

Goel, who was chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Headwaters Health Centre, was found dead in an apartment in Mumbai on Aug. 23, 2003 -- only a few hours before she was to return to Canada.

Earlier this month, the Mumbai police announced the arrests of three men who had connections to the family -- Narendra Goel, son-in-law of Suresh Agrawal, the brother Goel was visiting in India; M. Shinde, an employee of Agrawal; and Pawankumar Goenka, an employee of Subhash Agrawal of Ottawa, one of Goel's two other brothers.

The Times of India reported the motivation for the crime is an apparent property dispute among Goel's siblings.

According to reports in the Indian media, all the people arrested so far had been under suspicion from the earliest days of the case, but the arrests were delayed due to a lack of physical evidence.

The Indian media has also reported the handling of the case has "raised eyebrows" in police circles there. The case was transferred in January 2004 to the elite Crime Branch detectives of the Mumbai Police.

The Goel family has been pressuring authorities in India and in Canada to resolve the case -- and last year began a petition, which now has more than 11,000 signatures, requesting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assistance. Sanjay Goel says the support of the federal government is important to the outcome of the investigation and punishment of those responsible.

"Future progress in this case may depend on the Canadian government," says Sanjay Goel. "Although we are grateful for the assistance of the Canadian High Commission staff in Mumbai, we believe that the Canadian government must now take an active role in the investigation to ensure that all avenues are pursued and the guilty brought to justice."

 

NRI Candian obstetrician Asha Goel was murdered on Aug. 23, 2003 in Mumbai


NRI Candian obstetrician Asha Goel , who was chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Headwaters Health Centre, was found dead in an apartment in Mumbai on Aug. 23, 2003 -- only a few hours before she was to return to Canada.

BIO:

  • "I am the only son," said Sanjay, who is used to the rigours of international travel. he, as president of a cruise travel company, my mother Asha Goelshe as a devoted obstetrician at Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville, Ont.Canada
  • "This awful crime has devastated us," says husband Dr. S. K. Goel, a surgeon at Headwaters. "We are relieved that the authorities have found some of the people responsible for my wife's death, but we believe there are likely more arrests to be made.
  • "Asha is deeply missed by the community here," he says. "She was a very fine doctor, and always took the time to care for her patients, friends and colleagues. They have collected thousands of signatures to help us."
  • Asha Goel grew up in Mathura, India, and spent her teenage years in Mumbai. She graduated from Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, and the family has set up a generous scholarship there in her name. The full scholarship will go to a deserving female student each year, and is designed to be self-funding in perpetuity.
  • Medicine is a cornerstone for the Goel family, which boasts 22 doctors. Asha Goel was chief obstetrician at Headwaters, where her husband is on staff as a surgeon. A particularly active obstetrician, Sanjay estimated his mother delivered more than 10,000 babies over her career. She also played a vital role in providing care to immigrant women in nearby Brampton. "Many of the patients she saw had not been to an obstetrician in many years."
  • Asha Goel was a strong woman, physically and spiritually, and was the only member of her immediate family to go on to postgraduate education, said Sanjay. Her word carried considerable weight, and she was often called upon for advice. "She was a person people turned to. She played a leading or pivotal role in facing family issues.
  • "My mother was an innocent woman, a doctor whose life was devoted to helping other people," says son Sanjay Goel. "It is unthinkable that anyone would want to harm her, much less as a large conspiracy as it now appears was involved. There are still many unanswered questions."