Police in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur on Wednesday said they were yet to receive any official communication from their counterparts in Bengaluru in connection with the suicide of techie Atul Subhash.
The 34-year-old techie, who worked for a private firm in Bengaluru, allegedly committed suicide on Monday alleging harassment by his wife and her family members who are from Jaunpur.
Following Subhash's death, a case of abetment of suicide has been registered against his wife and her family members in Bengaluru.
His wife Nikita Singhania had first lodged a dowry harassment FIR against Subhash, his brother and parents in 2022, three years after their marriage.
"Bengaluru police have not yet contacted us over this matter," Jaunpur Superintendent of Police Ajaypal Sharma told PTI.
According to Janupur police, Subhash's wife Nikita had on April 24, 2022 filed a case against him at Kotwali police station here. The case was investigated by the then woman sub-inspector Priyanka and the charge sheet was sent to the court on August 30, 2022, police said.
Meanwhile, when the media reached the house of Nikita's parents at Khowa Mandi on Wednesday, her brother Anurag alias Piyush Singhania and mother Nisha Singhania refused to talk to them.
The brother asked the media to turn off their cameras and said that "whatever I have to say, I will say in front of my lawyer".
"Whatever allegations are made, I will answer them when the time comes. Whatever you want to know, go and find out from the court," Anurag said.
When approached, Anurag's relative Surendra Singhania said that Nikita and Subhash got married about five years ago. After marriage, both lived in Bengaluru and used to work there, he said, adding the couple also has a son.
For the past two years, Nikita wanted a divorce from Subhash and she had filed three or four cases in the court in her native district of Jaunpur, Surendra said.
"Due to the dispute between the two, Nikita wanted maintenance and Subhash was not in favour of it," he said.
At present, Nikita lives with her son in Delhi and works there, he added.
Advocate Dinesh Mishra, who is handling the case of deceased engineer, while talking to the media, said that Subhash's wife Nikita had filed cases against him several times.
"One of these important cases was going on in the family court, in which Nikita had applied to the court for maintenance of herself and her child. The court refused to give maintenance to the wife in this case, but ordered an amount of Rs 40,000 per month for the maintenance of the child," Mishra said.
The lawyer further said that "if Subhash felt this amount was too much, then he should have contacted the court or talked to those who could resolve this matter".
Mishra also said that he had not met or talked to Subhash since July.
Mishra also said that "he never felt that Subhash was depressed or a victim of mental stress".
Nikita had lodged a complaint here on April 24, 2022 alleging harassment and assault for dowry. She mentioned her husband, his parents and brothers-in-law as accused.
The FIR was lodged at Kotwali police station in Janupur under Indian Penal Code sections 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives), 323 (assault), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and under provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Nikita said she got married to Subhash on April 26, 2019. She alleged that after marriage her husband and in-laws were dissatisfied with what her parents gave them during the wedding and demanded Rs 10 lakh more.
She alleged they "started torturing me physically and mentally for dowry. When I told my parents about the harassment and dowry, my parents explained to me that everything will be fine, listen and keep living with it. But no improvement of any kind came in my husband and in-laws".
"My husband started to beat me up after drinking alcohol and started treating the husband-wife relationship with me like a beast. He used to transfer my entire salary from my account to his account by threatening me," Nikita had claimed.
She also claimed that irritated by the words of her in-laws, her father's health suddenly deteriorated and on August 17, 2019 he suffered a stroke due to the demand for dowry and later died during treatment.
