BPO worker

harassment

IPC

24-yr-oldhad texted wife to return or he would commit suicide; she responded, asking him to go aheadJust 25 days after his marriage, a 24-year-old BPO employee committed suicide, as he was unable to bear thefrom his 19-year-old wife. R Shankar, a resident of Halasuru, consumed poison, as his wife had returned to her parents’ house after trying to pressurise him to move out of his parents’ home.Shankar is said to have been in relationship with Lakshitha, also a resident of Halasuru, before their wedding. Lakshitha returned to her parents’ house and is also said to have stopped answering his calls and replying to his messages. On Sunday, Shankar texted her, telling her that he was going to consume poison if she does not change her behaviour and return to his house. He also sent her a picture of the bottle of poison. But Lakshitha is said to have responded saying he could die, which prompted him to consume the poison. A day after the suicide, Shankar’s father, Raju Rajan filed a case against his daughter-in-law and others. The police have registered a case of abetment of suicide under Section 306 ofagainst the victim’s wife.Shankar, a BBA graduate, had recently started work at a BPO firm in Marathahalli. Shankar and Lakshitha were reportedly in love for the last one year. The two got married at a sub-registrar’s office on April 18 this year.“My daughter-in-law’s brother and his associates beat up my son when the two were in courtship. Lakshitha came to my house and said she would not return to her parents’ house. Then the two got married at a temple, but their wedding was legalised just 25 days back. As she stood by my son after the attack on him, I agreed for the wedding as both were majors. After the wedding, she went to her parents’ house and started behaving weirdly supposedly at the behest of her family members. She kept harassing my son to make a separate house. My son was disturbed over the developments in his newly married life,” Rajan told Mirror. Shankar was upset as his wife avoided his calls and stopped replying to his messages. It is said that he had even stopped going for work for the last few days.“My son committed suicide on the behest of his wife. We could see that he was disturbed. He did not disclose much about the differences between them. Only after his death and going through the WhatsApp chats between them, we realised the amount of harassment he had undergone. A few minutes before taking the extreme step, he had texted her saying he could not live without her as he is fond of her. He had also messaged that if she did not return, he would commit suicide and sent her a picture of the bottle of poison. My daughter-in-law had replied asking him to die as she would be happy without him,” Rajan added.Shankar called his friends after consuming poison as he could not bear the pain. His friends took him to the Bowring Hospital but he died en route. The friends then informed his parents about the suicide. “The case is being probed. The victim’s father has furnished some proof to establish that his son had committed suicide at the behest of his daughter-in-law,” said an officer. The Halasuru police have registered a case.