The Karnataka Police have arrested the mother-in-law and brother-in-law of late Atul Subhash, who had taken his own life on December 9, apparently over the alleged demand of Rs 3 crore settlement by his wife's family.
The sensational case has sparked debate over harassment of married men and misuse of dowry provisions in the country. Atul Subhash ended his life on Monday leaving behind a 40-page death note and 90-minute video explaining how he was allegedly tortured by his wife.
The Karnataka Police apprehended Nisha Singhania, the mother-in-law and brother-in-law Anurag Singhania of Atul during Thursday night. Atul's wife Nikita Singhania is absconding, according to sources on Friday, who said that police had launched a hunt for her.
The accused were arrested in the limits of Jaunpur police station limits in Uttar Pradesh. The accused are now being questioned at the Jaunpur police station and the Karnataka Police will bring them to Bengaluru on Friday after obtaining permission from the court.
Police sources reported that accused after knowing the Karnataka Police had arrived to take their custody, accused Nisha Singhania and Anurag Singhania attempted to escape from the residence by locking the house. However, the police obtained information regarding the accused, and they arrested the accused individuals from the area.
Bengaluru's Marathahalli police filed an FIR against deceased Atul's wife's family under abatement of suicide charges.
Atul Subhash had written mail to President Droupadi Murmu and the Supreme Court requesting them to come to the rescue of harassed husbands and arrest the accused persons, his wife, mother-in-law, and others in his case.
A part of the suicide note left behind by 34-year-old Atul Subhash reveals shocking details, besides disclosing how he wished to get ashes poured into a gutter outside the court if those who harassed him were not found guilty.
Atul Subhash, who worked with an automobile company here, allegedly committed suicide as a divorce settlement was sought for an amount of Rs 3 crore. Subhash had gone to his apartment on the early hours of Tuesday and was found dead there. It is said that before dying he had recorded a 90-minute video and written a 40-page-long death note explaining how harassment by wife Nikita Singhania and her family compelled him to take this extreme step.
The note he left for himself was: "If the court decides that the corrupt judge and my wife and other harassers are not guilty, then pour my ashes into some gutter outside the court. Don't do my 'asthi visarjan' till my harassers get punished."
However, the family gathered the 'asthis' from the Bengaluru crematorium on Wednesday where Atul's last rites were performed. According to the family, the ashes will be taken to Patna, which is originally the family's hometown, and it will be immersed in the river according to tradition.
The suicide note, which was titled "Justice is Due," was addressed to his 2-year-old child, and read: "Now with me gone, there will not be any money to loot and I hope that they might start to look at the facts of the cases. Someday, you shall know the real face of your mother and her greedy family.
I pray that they don't devour you and your soul. I often laugh when I remember that I started saving money for a car when you go to college. Silly me. Remember this always that you don't owe anything to anyone. Don't trust the system." Atul Subhash further listed out his last wishes in the note. "All my case hearings should happen live and people of this country should know about my case and learn the terrible state of the legal system and misuse of law these women are doing."
He further requested to let the suicide note and videos be his statement and evidence.
"I fear that the judge might tamper with the documents, put pressure on witnesses and can adversely affect other cases. Based on my experience, the Bengaluru courts are relatively more law-abiding than Uttar Pradesh courts. I request to run the cases in Karnataka in the interest of justice and keep her in the judicial and police custody in Bengaluru till the trial goes on," the note read.
He further wrote: "Give the custody of my child to my parents who can raise him with better values. Don't let my wife or her family come near my dead body. Give maximum punishment to my harassers though I don't trust our legal system too much. If people like my wife are not put behind jail, they would be more emboldened and will put more false cases on other sons of society in the future.
"To wake up the judiciary and urge them to stop harassment of my parents and my brother in false cases. There shall be no negotiations, settlements and mediation with these evil people and the culprits must be punished," the letter read.
He had also shared a link on X, tagging his video to CEO Elon Musk and US President-elect Donald Trump.
A dead man is requesting Elon Musk and Donald Trump to save millions of lives from woke ideologies, abortion, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and restore freedom of speech in India. I will be dead when you read this. A legal genocide of men happening in India currently," the suicide note read.
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