New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) : In a new twist in the sensational Geetika Sharma case, her mother also committed suicide today with the family blaming former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda, six months after the former airhostess ended her life alleging harassment by the MLA.

Anuradha Sharma, in her fifties, took the extreme step this evening by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her residence in Ashok Vihar in north-west Delhi. A senior police official said she was found hanging from a ceiling fan and a police team, which arrived immediately after it got a call, recovered the body.

He said Sharma was found dead by a relative who informed her son Ankit Sharma after which he rushed to their residence. Anuradha Sharma's husband blamed Kanda for his wife's death. "He killed my daughter and now he has taken the life of my wife as well," he alleged.

Police said a suicide note has been recovered from the spot, but did not reveal the contents. Geetika committed suicide in August last year alleging harassment by Kanda, who is currently in jail in connection with the case.

The 23-year-old airhostess, who was employed with the now defunct MDLR Airlines owned by Kanda, was found dead on August 5 at her Ashok Vihar residence in North West Delhi.

During police probe, it emerged that Geetika and her family were very well known to Kanda and his wife and both families had gone on tours and pilgrimage in the country. Kanda had resigned as Haryana Minister of State for Home after he was booked in the case and was arrested a fortnight after Geetika committed suicide.

However, Kanda has been reiterating before the court that no case of abeting suicide is made out against him. He also said that Geetika was "hypersensitive".