“Every law in India applies to women, not men”: A Bengaluru techie’s family seeks justice

Last update:December 11, 2024, 12:06 AM IST

A techie from Bengaluru, Atul Subhash, died by suicide due to harassment by his wife. His family members and a friend opened up about the mental battle that Atul was fighting for a long time.

Bengali techie Atul Subhash and his father and brother (Photo: X/ANI)

The suicide of a techie from Bengaluru has sparked massive outrage across the country, sparking an online debate about men’s rights and drawing a reaction from the family of the deceased.

The family claimed that Indian laws were biased towards women and had little provision for men. They also demanded justice from President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Atul Subhash, an engineer from Uttar Pradesh who works in a private firm in Bengaluru, was found hanging in his apartment, leaving behind a 24-page suicide note. Before claiming his life, he also made a 90-minute video in which he claimed that his estranged wife made false accusations, harassed him and filed multiple lawsuits.

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What did the family say?

Talking about his son’s unfortunate death, the victim’s father Pawan Kumar said that Atul was frustrated but never let his family feel his suffering. He said his son’s wife made one accusation after another against him.

“He (the victim) had told us that the members of the mediation court are not working in accordance with the law, not even in accordance with the rules of the Supreme Court. He had to travel from Bengaluru to Jaunpur at least 40 times. She (the deceased’s wife) made one accusation after another. He must have been frustrated, but let us never feel that,” he said.

Explaining the ordeal further, the father said that the family received the information about the incident after Atul sent an email to his younger brother around 1 am.

“It is 100% true (the deceased’s allegations against his wife and her family)… We cannot express the level of tension our son would have been under,” he said.

He went on to say that the system had failed her family.

“She has filed lawsuits against us that defy all logic. The system failed us… Our son killed himself because of the system. We had to do court rounds. Atul was distressed because of the stress that was happening to us. We have to live with this regret,” he said.

Atul’s brother about a suicide incident

The deceased’s brother, Bikas Kumar, said that laws in India were “for women and not for men”.

“About eight months after my brother’s wife separated from him, she filed a divorce case and filed numerous charges against my brother and our entire family under various laws and sections. “In India every law applies to women and not to men – my brother fought for it but he left us,” he said.

The brother further said that Atul did everything for his wife and called on President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give justice to his brother.

“Even in his suicide notes he wrote, “If I win from the system, I will hand over my mortal remains in Ganga, otherwise in a gutter outside the court.”… My brother did everything for her. Whatever happened was unfortunate. If he had, “I ever discussed it with myself or our father – we would have helped him get out of that situation…” he said.

“I would like to request the Government of India and the President that justice must be done for my brother if he is truthful, otherwise give me proof that he is wrong.” A proper investigation should be initiated against the judge who is in the My brother’s suicide note…,” Kumar added.

Atul’s friend reveals his mental struggle

Jackson, Atul’s friend, revealed that he was under “tremendous stress” due to his wife’s nine slaps. However, he pointed out that Atul did not seem depressed in the video and seemed to be bothered by his wife and his system

“So it was more his way of telling the system that it wasn’t helping men and that there was a lot of bias,” he said.

Revealing the struggles with his wife, Jackson said that his wife was sick with COVID and Atul took care of her and their child during this time.

“His wife was also infected with COVID and had a lot of problems. So he set out to get medicine for her but she didn’t take it on time which caused tension which escalated into several problems and then she left him along with the baby and he couldn’t see his son…” he said.

The friend further said that the last he heard from Atul on the matter was about the court order of Rs 40,000 per month maintenance for his son.

(With ANI inputs)