Sunita Alahan (also Parekh) was a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Shobna Gulati.

She made her first screen appearance on 23 March 2001 and remained in the show until 2006, when the character was axed from the serial by producer Tony Wood.

Sunita died on 3 April 2013 as she succumbed to the injuries she sustained during the Rovers Return fire, caused by her illicit ex-lover Karl Munro (John Michie).

Sunita's storylines saw her escape an arranged marriage, diagnosed with an aneurysm and a brain tumour, falsely imprisoned, held hostage, falling pregnant with twins, becoming a single parent after divorcing her husband, surviving a tram crash, embarking on an affair with Karl, becoming trapped in a fire at The Rovers Return Inn and later dying in hospital of a cardiac arrest after her breathing tube was removed by Karl.

Sunita calls her boss Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin), asking for help as she does not want to marry the man that her parents have arranged for her.

Her parents, Mena (Leena Dhingra) and Suresh (Kaleem Janjua) dismiss her fears as pre-wedding nerves and warn her if she doesn't marry Deepak, they will disown her.

Ciaran proposes and she accepts but he changes his mind about getting married and can't tell her so Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) does it for him.

She is told that she will need an operation to repair the aneurysm but Dev's partner, Maya Sharma (Sasha Behar), who is friends with Danny's wife, Frankie Baldwin (Debra Stephenson), becomes suspicious.

Sunita gives birth to twins Aadi (Adam Hussain) and Asha (Tanisha Gorey), with Dev at her side.

Infuriated, Dev visits Sunita, who apologises for not telling him sooner and reassures him that Matt does not want to take over as father figure.

In December 2010, a gas explosion at the Joinery wine bar causes a tram to derail and crash into the Corner Shop.

They are shocked at how things had changed since their previous visit and are not impressed with Sunita's home and lifestyle and on learning that she and Dev are divorced and were pretending to be together before, so they start searching for a more suitable husband.

When Dev's daughter, Amber Kalirai (Nikki Patel) moves in after dropping out of university, Sunita struggles to feel sympathy and the two women have a difficult relationship.

Sunita puts Karl up while Dev and the twins are on holiday and keeps his winnings from a roulette game, hoping to help wean him off his addiction.

On 12 February 2001, it was announced that Coronation Street would introduce a new Asian character named Sunita Parekh as part of an arranged marriage storyline.

[2] A Coronation Street spokeswoman, Alison Sinclair, defended the portrayal of the new character, commenting: "The arranged marriage storyline is just a device for pulling viewers in.

Sinclair also said that the show had been criticised in the past for not tackling issues of concern to the characters from the minority ethnic communities portrayed.

Defending the storyline, Gulati added: "It's very brave to explore an issue a lot of people consider to be untrendy but it's prevalent and part of our culture."

Despite the criticism, writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, who has sat on a parliamentary committee investigating forced marriages in Asian communities, believed such issues should be tackled on screen.

[3] The story was reported in tabloids prior to airing, with the storyline showing Sunita convincing herself she was suffering from migraines rather than getting herself checked out.

[4] On 20 September 2005, it was confirmed that the character had been axed, alongside Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) and Jessie Jackson (Nailah Cumberbatch).

[5] Speaking of the axings, producer Tony Wood said, "Shobna and Vicky are superb actresses who have proved extremely popular during their time on the show.

"[6] Gulati said she was looking forward to a "great exit storyline" and it was confirmed that Sunita would not be killed off, leaving the door open for a possible return.

[9] Discussing her comeback, Gulati commented: "They didn't kill Sunita off - she went to live in her parents' house in Swinton with her and Dev's twins.

Sunita's a heartwarming character and I'd like to see her come back as a mature woman - she has brought up two kids on her own and she's not a girl anymore.

"[9] Coronation Street producer Kim Crowther first hinted at a possible return for Sunita in an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy in the previous week.

[14] Speaking to the Daily Star, the executive producer of the show, Phil Collinson, said that Sunita catches Karl's eye and it makes it more exciting as Sunita is the last person viewers would expect to have an affair and hinted that "all hell breaks loose" when Karl's partner Stella Price (Michelle Collins) discovers the affair.

[17] On 30 November 2012, Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy reported that Gulati would leave Coronation Street to explore other career opportunities and spend more time on her comedy writing.

"[18] Series producer Phil Collinson added that Gulati's departure would provide "an exciting storyline opportunity" for Sunita and the writing team were looking forward to plotting "a brilliant exit story for her.

"[18] Gulati filmed her final scenes on 27 February 2013 along with fellow departing actress, Natalie Gumede, who played Kirsty Soames.