The Bengaluru police have arrested Nikita Singhania, her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania on December 14th.
While Nikhita was arrested from Gurugram in Haryana in the morning, both Nisha and Anurag were apprehended by the police team from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
They were flown down to Bengaluru and produced before a magistrate who has remanded them to judicial custody.
A few police teams are still staying at Jaunpur in UP and Patna in Bihar to collect evidence regarding the abetment to suicide case registered in Bengaluru.
The accused have switched off their mobile phones and had gone absconding while the police team had gone to serve notice to their house in Jaunpur.
A woman from Madhare Tola in Jaunpur district, identified as Sumita (name changed), filed a maintenance case against her husband, Atul Subhash Modi, a resident of Beni in Samastipur district, Bihar. The case was brought before the Civil Court following allegations of dowry harassment and domestic abuse.
Allegations of Harassment and Dowry Demand
Sumita stated that she married Atul on June 26, 2019. After the wedding, she alleged that her in-laws demanded ₹10 lakh as dowry, which she claimed contributed to her father’s death from the stress. Attempts to resolve the disputes reportedly failed, and Atul later took Sumita to Bengaluru.
On February 20, 2020, Sumita gave birth to a son. However, she alleged that the harassment persisted. On May 17, 2021, she was reportedly assaulted and forced out of the house. Since then, she and her child had been residing at her maternal home.
Maintenance Case and Court Verdict
Sumita sought ₹2 lakh per month as maintenance from Atul, who worked as an engineer at Optum Global Solutions Private Limited in Bengaluru. Despite earning a salary of ₹78,245 herself, she requested financial support for both her and her child.
On July 29, 2024, the court rejected her plea for personal maintenance but ordered Atul to pay ₹40,000 per month for their child until adulthood.
Legal Challenges and Atul’s Death
Atul, who had secured bail in a dowry harassment case and was also facing a domestic violence case, later died by suicide amid these legal battles. His lawyer, Dinesh Mishra, asserted that the court proceedings were conducted fairly, with no evidence of corruption or malpractice. The court delivered its verdict after considering both parties’ arguments.
This tragic series of events underscores the complex and emotional nature of such disputes, with far-reaching consequences for all involved.
