Atul Subhash suicide: Accused sent to 14-day judicial custody

Bengaluru, Dec 15 (IANS) Three accused in Atul Subhash's suicide case -- his wife, her mother and brother -- who were arrested by Bengaluru Police, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody, officials said here on Sunday.

A senior police officer said Atul Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania was arrested from Haryana’s Gurugram and her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania were nabbed in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The accused persons were produced before the court and were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. After nabbing the accused persons, the Karnataka Police brought them to Bengaluru on Saturday late at night.

More details are yet to emerge in the case.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Atul Subhash had planned to commit suicide 15 days before taking the extreme step. He had written the death note three days ago and searched legal matters on Google.

The police registered an FIR against the accused persons under Sections 108, 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on December 9. Bikas Kumar, the deceased Atul’s younger brother had lodged a police complaint alleging abetment to suicide with the Marathahalli police in Bengaluru.

The FIR was lodged against Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania, mother-in-law Nisha Singhania, brother-in-law Anurag Singhania and relative Sushil Singhania. The police are yet to arrest the fourth accused, Sushil, in the case.

Bikas Kumar alleged in the complaint that false cases were lodged against his brother Atul Subhash by the accused and had demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case. He had also alleged that his brother Atul Subhash was taunted in the court during the proceedings that he had to either give Rs 3 crore or commit suicide.

Nikita’s family had alleged that the deceased Atul Subhash demanded a hefty dowry from her family which resulted in the death of her father.

Subhash, who was working with an automobile company in Bengaluru, allegedly committed suicide as a demand of Rs 3 crore was made for a divorce settlement. He ended his life at his apartment in the early hours of December 9, leaving behind a 90-minute video and a 40-page death note, explaining how harassment by his wife Nikita Singhania and her family compelled him to take the extreme step.

The note left by him read: "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 collected the 'asthis' from the Bengaluru crematorium where Subhash’s final rites were conducted. The family stated that the ashes would be taken to Patna, from where the family originally hails from and it will be immersed into the river as per the traditions.

The suicide note, under the headline "Justice is Due", addressed to his 2-year-old child, 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." 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 also requested to allow the suicide note and videos as 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.