Bengaluru Techie Suicide Case: FIR under abetment of suicide filed against wife, 3 others

BENGALURU: An FIR has been filed against 4 people in connection with the suicide of a 34-year-old deputy general manager of a private firm, Atul Subhash, who died by suicide, accusing his wife, her family members, and a judge of harassment, extortion, and corruption.

The FIR based on a complaint by Atul's brother Bikas Kumar was lodged at the Marathahalli police station in Bengaluru. The FIR has been filed under section 108 (abetment of suicide) and section 3 (5) (establishes joint criminal liability when two or more people act with a common intention) of the BNS. The FIR is filed against the techie's wife Nikita Singhania, his mother-in-law Nisha Singhania, wife's brother Anurag Singhania and his wife's uncle Sushil Singhania.

As per the complaint filed by the brother of Atul, the FIR mentions that Atul Subhash married Nikita Singhania in 2019 and had a child together. The complaint alleges that the four accused filed a false case against Atul Subhash after their divorce and insisted on paying Rs 3 crore for the settlement of the case.

The complaint also alleges that Atul Subhash's wife had demanded Rs 30 lakh to allow him to visit his son who is now four years old. The complaint alleges that Atul had died by suicide as he was harrased mentally and physically. Based on the complaint, the case has been registered and an investigation is underway.

Speaking to ANI, the victim's brother Bikas Kumar said, "Around 8 months after my brother's wife separated from him, she filed a divorce case and framed many charges against my brother and our entire family under different acts and sections. Every law in India is for women, and not for men - my brother fought for this but he left us."

Bikas Kumar said, that even in his suicide notes, Atul Subhash wrote---' If I win from the system, devote my mortal remains in Ganga otherwise in a gutter outside the court."

"My brother did everything for her. Whatever has happened was unfortunate. If he had ever discussed it with me or our father - we would have helped him get out of this situation... I want to request the govt of India and the President - that justice must be done to my brother if he is with truth otherwise give me the proof to show that he is wrong. There should be a proper investigation against the judge who is named in my brother's suicide," said Bikas Kumar.

The deceased's friend, Jackson also spoke to ANI and said, "There were like nine cases put by his wife and because of that he was going through tremendous stress. But in this particular video and notes that he has made, it doesn't seem that he was depressed. It seems that he did it out of a sense of harassment that he was facing from the system."

"So it was more like his way of telling the system that it is not helping men and there is a lot of bias. During COVID times he was taking care of his wife and a kid. His wife was also infected with COVID and she had a lot of issues. So he went ahead to procure medicines for her and she wasn't taking them on time which created some friction that escalated into multiple issues and then she left him along with the baby and he could not see his son. One particular point that I got to know recently from him was that he got a maintenance order for his son who is barely four or five years old, 40,000 rupees per month," said Jackson.

According to a statement released by the police, the victim was a resident of Uttar Pradesh who was living in Bengaluru. The police stated that the Hoysala Police Control Room received a call at 6:00 am on Monday about the suicide in a flat at Bengaluru's Manjunatha Layout in the Delfinium Residency.

The statement further stated that when the police went to search the place, the flat was locked from inside, and the lock was broken, following which they went inside and saw Atul hanging from a ceiling fan by the support of a nylon rope. The police stated that he was found dead upon arrival.

The police informed the incident to the brother of the deceased, Bikas Kumar, who later filed a complaint against Subhash's wife, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, and his wife's uncle, accusing them of filing a false complaint against Subhash and demanding Rs 3 crore money for the settlement, which led to his mental and physical harassment, following which he had to take the step.

In his suicide note, Subhash called for justice, stating, "Justice is Due" on every single page of the 24-page note. Along with his wife and her family members, Subhash also accused a family court judge in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur for not hearing him out, and an officer in the court, accusing him of taking bribes in front of the judge.

Subhash further described the instances that instigated him to take such a step. Subhash recorded a video describing his alleged harassment and asking his family members not to immerse his ashes till justice is served to him. His suicide note also had a message for his four-year-old son who he claimed had been kept estranged from him. The note also called for his parents to be given custody of his child.

The note and the link to the Video were sent to the WhatsApp group of an NGO, to which he was connected. Subhash alleged in his suicide note that his wife had filed nine cases against him, including murder, sexual misconduct, harassment for money, domestic violence, and dowry.