BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut expressed shock on the suicide of a techie who hails from Bengaluru but warned against generalising one case to blacken the name of all women. On December 9, Subhash died, leaving behind 24 page note and a video accusing the harassment of his wife and her family.
The incident was heart-wrenching and Ranaut strongly condemned the extortion but said men were to blame in most marriages. Complaining against his wife, her mother, brother and uncle, Bikas Kumar, the subhash’s brother, had filed a case demanding ₹3 crore settlement.
Shivakumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Whitefield, confirmed the suicide and said the main reason was harassment by wife and family. Suicide note by the techie points out nine false cases lodged against him — culpable homicide, sexual harassment and domestic violence. A family court judge in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur was accused of bias and corruption by him.
In his note, Subhash had asked they be able to keep his estranged four year old son under custody. He also asked his family not to immerse his ashes until justice was served. Before he took his own life, he had sent them his note and video to an NGO’s WhatsApp group.
The incident has brought back debate about the misuse of Section 498-A (an anti dowry law) of the Indian Penal Code. Vikas Pahwa, senior advocate, said that there are legitimate cases, but the law is often misused to extort money. Dubbed social impact, false allegations come with the tendency to implicate whole families.
Many cases in courts are settled, Pahwa said, through financial settlements, which go against the spirit of the law. He argued that there is an urgent need to reform to misuse of Section 498-A to save the social fabric and provide justice to all parties who go through it.
