Is EastEnders’ murderous Ravi a secret Panesar sibling?

Predatory Ranveer Gulati (Anil Goutam), who was featured in tonight’s emotional episode of EastEnders (10 August), was found to still be alive before being fatally struck by his “son” Ravi (Aaron Thiara) shortly after.

We’ll get to those important quotation marks in a moment, but first, let’s relive the most shocking episode of the BBC soap opera.

Suki Panesar’s (Balvinder Sopal) sole chance of survival came when she was at her lowest point and needed to close her business arrangement with Ranveer. Ranveer demanded that she sleep with him in exchange for her agreement to sign the papers.

Suki dressed up and hosted him for dinner, but as they discussed his repulsive proposal, she turned the tables on him by showing her hidden camera. Ranveer continued to seek Suki for sex as he chased her around the apartment after she managed to persuade him to sign the paperwork. Suki was overwhelmed in the ensuing struggle as Ranveer pinned her to the ground and prepared to attack her.

But when she struck him over the head with a nearby clock, he fell to the ground, causing Suki to fear that she had murdered him. Suki described everything as Ravi came and was astounded to see the aftermath of this showdown.

When she explained what Ranveer was about to do to her, Ravi had a hard time understanding it, but he did trust her.

Suki was sent away so that he could deal with the presumably deceased body. When she was later discovered by on-and-off love interest Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), Suki said that she had just been mugged in order to cover up the blood on her face.

Ravi hurried to shift Ranveer’s body at the Panesar apartment, but the older man abruptly came to. Ravi confronted him about trying to rape Suki, and he was furious about what Ravi was about to do.

As Ravi begged his “dad” to stop being a traitor, Ranveer refuted this and cautioned him about the camera, saying, “I was never your dad and you know it!” as Ravi begged his “dad” to stop being a traitor. Intriguing…

Ravi swung at Ranveer with the identical ornament Suki had used to defend herself, putting an end to the man’s existence once and for all.

Without telling Suki that she wasn’t really a murderer after all, he then started cleaning up.

There is still Ranveer’s bombshell to contend with, though, as we wait to see what happens next. Could it be that Ravi, if he isn’t his son, is actually a clan member he is so close to in secret? Here, we’ll dissect that theory.

Is Ravi the hidden sibling of Panesar?

Questions abound in light of Ranveer’s admission that he was never truly Ravi’s father.

Suki mentioned that Ranveer and her husband were great friends, and we already know that the Gulatis and Panesars have been close for a while.

Therefore, might Ravi’s secret father be the absent Mr. Panesar, and may Ravi be aware of this? Even if he didn’t, it appears that he was aware that Ranveer wasn’t his real father.

We know that Suki’s imprisoned husband was sentenced to prison for murder 20 years prior from small tidbits of information released over the last six months, and she was terrified to find that his parole was approaching.

Suki later confessed to Eve that she had experienced mental abuse at the hands of her husband, indicating that she had been under coercive control during their marriage.

These facts are still unknown to Kheerat, Ash, and Vinny (Jaz Deol, Gurlaine Kaur Garcha, and Shiv Jalota, respectively), although Kheerat’s girlfriend Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), overheard Suki’s conversation with Eve.

It wouldn’t surprise us to learn if Mr. Panesar had been unfaithful to his wife given the fact that he already came out as a particularly toxic member of the clan.

Maybe he even realizes Ravi is his son? Could he be about to show up in Walford, altering the Panesars’ dynamic and bringing with him the mother of all shocks?

The two men appear to be at odds because Ravi grew up with Kheerat and his brothers. However, what would happen if they discovered that Ravi was actually their brother and not simply a boyhood friend?

Naturally, EastEnders has not made any indication that this is the true, but soap opera world is known for dropping unexpected bombshells, and what use would Ranveer’s statements serve if not to reveal a connection to some well-known characters?

Watch this space to see if this theory turns out to be correct!