Body in Tx home is mother accused of killing son

[Tsuki_Kirkland]

The two bodies found Wednesday at the North Texas home of a woman charged in her 10-year-old son's death were identified Thursday as the mother and her husband, the boy's father.
Pallavi Dhawan, 39, and her husband Sumeet Dhawan, 43, were both found dead at their Frisco home, she in the backyard and he inside the house, authorities said. The medical examiner's office confirmed their identities Thursday.
“It’s terrible for the family," neighbor Sam Perry said. "It’s terrible that this outcome might have come to this. You don’t ever want to see that happen.”
Police had responded Wednesday to a 911 call about a possible drowning at the Dhawans' home in the 15000 block of Mountain View Lane at at about 3:30 p.m. There, they found a woman's body in the back yard and a man's body inside the house, police said.

Pallavi Dhawan had been 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.
The Dhawans said the boy, who had several underlying medical conditions, had died of natural causes, and Pallavi was preserving her son's corpse until Sumeet returned home from a business trip in India. In their culture, the family said, the father must deliver a final blessing.


A grand jury had just begun to hear her case, with Arnav's father Sumeet Dhawan providing testimony last week.
The Dhawans' attorney David Finn said he thought it went "extremely well for us." Finn said he spoke with the family Friday and texted them on Saturday and recalled nothing amiss. Asked if the couple had grown despondent, Finn said, "in fact, just the opposite.”




Finn said Arnav had several underlying medical conditions, including a cyst in his brain and a condition that causes a person to develop an undersized head and that can shorten life expectancy.
The medical examiner said the boy's cause of death was undetermined, with natural disease being the most likely factor.


Finn said there was no proof that happened, since the body microphones attached to the officers' uniforms were not activated until after Pallavi Dhawan's arrest.
Finn called the couple two of the nicest people in the world Wednesday, and said he really believed in their innocence.
"I'm absolutely heartbroken," he told NBC 5.
The attorney said Pallavi Dhawan told him she would go to the grocery store and people would ask, "Is that the woman who killed her kid?

"Full Story here:

[A mali]

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

[David2074]

A mali

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

Maybe you get a special exemption when it is your own kid?
Dunno.
I've seen some stuff that tries to say the caste system is no more (I think legally that is true) but I know Indians who tell me in reality it is still very much alive. Also some news stories support that.

[A mali]

David2074

A mali

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

Maybe you get a special exemption when it is your own kid?
Dunno.
I've seen some stuff that tries to say the caste system is no more (I think legally that is true) but I know Indians who tell me in reality it is still very much alive. Also some news stories support that.

That's true. I was thinking if that had been a factor in this scenario.

[David2074]

A mali

David2074

A mali

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

Maybe you get a special exemption when it is your own kid?
Dunno.
I've seen some stuff that tries to say the caste system is no more (I think legally that is true) but I know Indians who tell me in reality it is still very much alive. Also some news stories support that.

That's true. I was thinking if that had been a factor in this scenario.

I'm confused about how that would be a factor?
Kid was on ice waiting for his father to come home to help with last rights.
If the family believes in the caste system at all then it seems likely mom, dad and child were all the same caste. If they don't follow the caste system then it would not matter.

If this story had been in India then possibly caste system might come into play about how folks around town treated her after she was accused of murdering her son -- but they lived in Texas. Quite likely neighbors were quicker to shun them simply because she looked Indian and had no idea what her caste was. Unless there is a strong Indian community in Texas. Doesn't seem like the place though. Around here I see a lot of East Indians because I live near the Canadian border and there is a fairly large community of them just north of me. I see them all the time shopping in our Costco or other stores.

At first I wondered if the death of the parents was some sort of vigilante justice for the death of the child but from what I gather they are pretty clear it was suicide. Which is sad given they have ruled the cause of death was unclear but most likely due to the boy's diseases / poor health - which means the murder charge would have been dropped.
Some people put waaaayyy too much stock in "saving face" or "being disgraced" and all that. Some Americans perhaps don't put enough interest into avoiding disgrace but I think there is a happy medium that doesn't involve killing yourself because your neighbors don't like your or you think you 'failed as parents' or whatever it was that caused them to kill themselves. Sad waste.

Morbid afterthought - but wondering how three deaths in the home will affect resell value.

[A mali]

David2074

A mali

David2074

A mali

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

Maybe you get a special exemption when it is your own kid?
Dunno.
I've seen some stuff that tries to say the caste system is no more (I think legally that is true) but I know Indians who tell me in reality it is still very much alive. Also some news stories support that.

That's true. I was thinking if that had been a factor in this scenario.

I'm confused about how that would be a factor?
Kid was on ice waiting for his father to come home to help with last rights.
If the family believes in the caste system at all then it seems likely mom, dad and child were all the same caste. If they don't follow the caste system then it would not matter.

If this story had been in India then possibly caste system might come into play about how folks around town treated her after she was accused of murdering her son -- but they lived in Texas. Quite likely neighbors were quicker to shun them simply because she looked Indian and had no idea what her caste was. Unless there is a strong Indian community in Texas. Doesn't seem like the place though. Around here I see a lot of East Indians because I live near the Canadian border and there is a fairly large community of them just north of me. I see them all the time shopping in our Costco or other stores.

At first I wondered if the death of the parents was some sort of vigilante justice for the death of the child but from what I gather they are pretty clear it was suicide. Which is sad given they have ruled the cause of death was unclear but most likely due to the boy's diseases / poor health - which means the murder charge would have been dropped.
Some people put waaaayyy too much stock in "saving face" or "being disgraced" and all that. Some Americans perhaps don't put enough interest into avoiding disgrace but I think there is a happy medium that doesn't involve killing yourself because your neighbors don't like your or you think you 'failed as parents' or whatever it was that caused them to kill themselves. Sad waste.

Morbid afterthought - but wondering how three deaths in the home will affect resell value.

I guess that's just me trying to make some sense into what happened. Picking at straws, really.
I know the Amityville House Horror has been debunked, but this could pick up a similar reputation especially if the causes of death remain mysterious. Any B-horror movie outfit would jump at a chance to milk this. However, property value will definitely plummet with the negative attention.

[David2074]

A mali

David2074

A mali

David2074

A mali

It probably devastated the couple to not only lose their child, but have the community see them differently.
Just a tangent: were they the type who practiced the caste system? I remember watching a documentary about the Dalit or Untouchables. I remember that people who are not of this caste would touch dead bodies because that renders them unclean or something.

Maybe you get a special exemption when it is your own kid?
Dunno.
I've seen some stuff that tries to say the caste system is no more (I think legally that is true) but I know Indians who tell me in reality it is still very much alive. Also some news stories support that.

That's true. I was thinking if that had been a factor in this scenario.

I'm confused about how that would be a factor?
Kid was on ice waiting for his father to come home to help with last rights.
If the family believes in the caste system at all then it seems likely mom, dad and child were all the same caste. If they don't follow the caste system then it would not matter.

If this story had been in India then possibly caste system might come into play about how folks around town treated her after she was accused of murdering her son -- but they lived in Texas. Quite likely neighbors were quicker to shun them simply because she looked Indian and had no idea what her caste was. Unless there is a strong Indian community in Texas. Doesn't seem like the place though. Around here I see a lot of East Indians because I live near the Canadian border and there is a fairly large community of them just north of me. I see them all the time shopping in our Costco or other stores.

At first I wondered if the death of the parents was some sort of vigilante justice for the death of the child but from what I gather they are pretty clear it was suicide. Which is sad given they have ruled the cause of death was unclear but most likely due to the boy's diseases / poor health - which means the murder charge would have been dropped.
Some people put waaaayyy too much stock in "saving face" or "being disgraced" and all that. Some Americans perhaps don't put enough interest into avoiding disgrace but I think there is a happy medium that doesn't involve killing yourself because your neighbors don't like your or you think you 'failed as parents' or whatever it was that caused them to kill themselves. Sad waste.

Morbid afterthought - but wondering how three deaths in the home will affect resell value.

I guess that's just me trying to make some sense into what happened. Picking at straws, really.
I know the Amityville House Horror has been debunked, but this could pick up a similar reputation especially if the causes of death remain mysterious. Any B-horror movie outfit would jump at a chance to milk this. However, property value will definitely plummet with the negative attention.

Oh, I don't know about he property value. It's Texas - known for some rather "white minded" folks. Find the right buyer and maybe the fact 'dem foreigners' died there would be a plus.
(just dark humor - but not too far off crap I've heard some real folks down south say)

Off topic long story for a different thread but - while I don't believe in ghosts in the walls coming to get me I do believe in ghosts. Or - whatever name you want to give them. Short version - one of the houses on our family farm was haunted and over a period of 40 years (that I'm aware of) various family members (including myself) as well as various tenants over the years when we rented it have heard them. Folks who knew nothing about it independently telling us the same stories - sounds of dinner being made in the kitchen, sounds of conversation from the front downstairs bedroom, plus a couple of other things. And the house is set far back from a little used road and about 1/4 mile from the nearest house. This is not a case of 'hearing the neighbors by mistake' or some crap like that.
Anyway... not scary.. but I've always thought it a bit odd and I've never been able to find any rational explanation to debunk it as "not ghosts".