Police refuse to divulge contents of note found.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: In a mysterious twist to the terrible tragedy that engulfed an Indian family of three in Frisco, Texas, with an only child, Arnav Dhawan, 10, dying in January and his parents, Pallavi and Sumeet Dhawan seemingly committing suicide earlier this month at home, authorities now insinuate that there could be a different conclusion to the case involving the adults, but refused to divulge critical details.
The Frisco Police Department in a news conference on Friday revealed that the body of Sumeet Dhawan, 43, found in a downstairs bedroom of the two-story house, had a blunt force trauma injury to his head, according to the medical examiner. The body of 39-year-old Pallavi Dhawan, police said, was recovered from the family pool with no identifiable trauma to her body, reported NBC 5.
Read the report of the tragedy in an earlier report by The American Bazaar:
The ABC affiliate, WFAA, reported that there was also a fracture to one of the hands of Sumeet Dhawan.
Frisco Assistant Chief Darren Stevens said a note was found at the home, but that the contents of that note would not yet be disclosed. He added that the note was being assessed for information and authorship. No guns were found in the home, but Stevens added that many items that are normal in a home could be used as a weapon.
Frisco police would reveal little else, saying it was early in the investigation and that they were trying to respect the privacy of the surviving Dhawan family, said NBC 5.
Stevens said it would be inappropriate to qualify the deaths as a murder-suicide and that they would reveal no further information without first disclosing that information to the family.
“I know you’ve been following this,” Stevens said of the case, reported WFAA. “Everyone’s been following this for quite awhile, and this is a case that I would say has had a great community impact. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy that the family is facing and I can’t even imagine what they’re going through dealing with what they’ve had for the last seven to eight months.”
Stevens said a police liaison was assigned to assist the Dhawan family’s extended family following the discovery of the couple’s body.
“As an agency, as a city, as human beings, our thoughts, condolences and our prayers go out to the family,” he said. “And I’m actually going to ask that everyone provide them with the support that they need right now, and that’s the Frisco population, the media and everyone across the metroplex because it is an absolutely unimaginable thing to be facing, a loss of an entire family.”
Deputy Chief David Shilson said the deaths of the Dhawans was not something authorities foresaw.
“We did not want this to be the outcome,” he said. “We wanted the opportunity to present to the grand jury what we had found as part of our investigation.”
Sumeet Dhawan had several family members living in the area, and it was at the behest of one of them that the police had gone to do a welfare check on the couple, and found their bodies.
In a statement released Friday, the Dhawan family said: “We are devastated by the continued tragic loss to our family. In this time of unimaginable sorrow, we would like to grieve with our family and friends, and request everyone to respect our privacy. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.”
As reported earlier, Pallavi Dhawan was charged in January with the murder of her son Arnav Dhawan, after police found his body in a bathtub in the home, surrounded by bags of melting ice. All along Pallavi has maintained her innocence and said she never hurt her son, who had special needs — a sentiment that was echoed in her sworn affidavit. She said she tried to preserve the body of her son so that his father, who was away on a business trip, could be present to do the last rites, as per Hindu customs.