UPDATE: Atul Subhash suicide case: Wife absconds, K'taka Police arrest her mother, brother

Bengaluru (The Uttam Hindu): Karnataka Police have arrested the mother-in-law and brother-in-law of late Atul Subhash, who committed suicide on December 9 over alleged demand by his wife's family for Rs 3 crore as settlement. The sensational case has triggered 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 arrested Nisha Singhania, Atul's mother-in-law and brother-in-law Anurag Singhania on Thursday night. Atul's wife Nikita Singhania is absconding and police have launched a hunt for her, sources stated on Friday. 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 stated that the accused after getting to know that Karnataka Police were arriving to take their custody, accused Nisha Singhania and Anurag Singhania tried to escape from their residence after locking their house. However, the police gathered information about the accused and arrested them from the vicinity. Marathahalli police in Bengaluru have filed an FIR against deceased Atul's wife's family over abetment of suicide charge.

Atul Subhash had sent mail to President Droupadi Murmu and the Supreme Court urging 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, besides disclosing shocking details, revealed his wish to get ashes poured into a gutter outside the court if those who harassed him were not found guilty.

Atul Subhash, who was working with an automobile company here, allegedly committed suicide as a demand of Rs 3 crore was made for a divorce settlement. Subhash ended his life at his apartment in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving behind a 90-minute video and a 40-page-long 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 on Wednesday where Atul’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", addressing 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." 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 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.

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.