Did Twitter lead to the death of an Indian politician's wife?

DEATH, infidelity, corruption and suspicion. How an Indian politician's wife took Twitter's 140 characters and created a tragic social media storm.

Shashi Tharoor with his wife Sunanda Pushkar who was found dead in a five-star hotel room after she exposed his alleged adult...

'DEATH by Twitter'. That's what the unnatural and sudden fatality of the wife of an Indian politician is being called after exposing her husband's alleged affair on the social networking site.

They may be just 140 characters but tweets are powerful, influential and pack impact. For Sunanda Pushkar, who tweeted accusations of the Indian politician's infidelity, could they also be the driving force behind her death?

Ms Pushkar was found dead of an overdose in a luxury Delhi hotel 48-hours after posting on Twitter purported private exchanges between Mr Tharoor and a Pakistani journalist, Mehr Tarar in which she professed her love for him.

She went on to attack Ms Tarar on Twitter, calling her a "stalker", to which she vehemently responded to.

I have nothing to say to a woman clearly out of her mind. To be called an ISI agent, a stalker..I have nothing to add. Just shows who she is

— Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) January 16, 2014

This relationship war was publicly played out over social networks and with Mr Tharoor having over two million followers there's plenty of audience to air the dirty laundry in front of.

He claimed his account was hacked, but Ms Pushkar swiftly confirmed on Twitter and speaking to the Economic Times (India) she sent the messages.:

"Our accounts have not been hacked and I have been sending out these tweets. I cannot tolerate this."

"This is a Pakistani woman who is an ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) agent, and she is stalking my husband. And you know how men are. He is flattered by the attention. I took upon myself the crimes of this man during IPL (Indian Premier League). I will not allow this to be done to me. I just can't tolerate this. I have nothing more to say."

Sorry folks, my @Twitter account has been hacked & will be temporarily deactivated. Bear with me while we solve this.

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 15, 2014

Ms Pushkar further stirred up controversy by touching on a corruption scandal from 2010 where Mr Tharoor was accused of giving his wife a free stake in a new Indian Premier League team worth up to $15 million. However, both had denied any wrong doing.

With Mr Tharoor being a prominent member of India's government, an author and former United Nations diplomat, such public accusations will be seen as detrimental to his reputation, especially when delivered through the powerful medium of Twitter.

India's Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor attending the ceremonial cremation of his wife following her "unnatural" death. AFP PHOTO

Mr Tharoor, who found his wife in the hotel room, was later admitted to hospital suffering from chest pains.

The subsequent death of Ms Pushkar has now become a curious focus of India's public with much suspicion surrounding the tragedy. Some Indian media outlets are calling it the first death by Twitter.

The police are investigating the death and while Mr Tharoor's press assistant told reporters "there were no signs of foul play" an autopsy has revealed an "unnatural and sudden death" and that her body had "some physical injuries".

Prior to her death Ms Pushkar's posted a chilling tweet saying: "Whatever is destined to happen will happen, will go smiling."

Ms Tarar took the opportunity to proclaim her shock about the death:

I just woke up and read this. I'm absolutely shocked. This is too awful for words. So tragic I don't know what to say. Rest in peace,Sunanda

— Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) January 17, 2014

A cremation memorial service was held, which Mr Tharoor attended and the investigation continues.