BBCOn the night of December 9th, a 34-year-old Indian man took his own life. A poster reading “Justice is due” hung next to his body.
Atul Subhash left a detailed 24-page suicide note and an 81-minute video blaming problems in his marriage and divorce proceedings.
The letter and video, which contain disturbing details about his life, went viral on social media and sparked outrage.
The software engineer from the southern city of Bengaluru accused his estranged wife Nikita Singhania, her mother and her brother of persistent harassment and torture – allegations she denied. The three were arrested a few days later and a court remanded them in custody for 14 days.
News of Subhash’s tragic death has also galvanized men’s rights activists and sparked a broader debate about India’s strict dowry laws, which were intended to protect women from harassment and even murder.
However, many argue that with the ever-increasing number of divorces, the law is now being abused by women to harass their husbands and even force them to commit suicide. India’s Supreme Court also weighed in, with one judge describing it as “legal terrorism” that “should serve as a shield and not a weapon of an assassin.”
But women activists point out that demands for high dowry payments from husbands’ families still kill thousands of women every year.
Bengaluru PoliceSubhash and Singhania got married in 2019 but had been living separately for three years and Subhash said he was not allowed to meet their four-year-old son. His wife, he alleged, had filed “false cases” accusing him of cruelty, dowry harassment and various other misdeeds.
In the video, he accused the Singhania family of “blackmail” and said they sought 30 million rupees ($352,675; £279,661) for the withdrawal of the cases, 3 million rupees for their son’s visitation rights and an increase in monthly maintenance 40,000 rupees to 3.5 million rupees demanded 200,000 rupees.
He then spoke about the dozens of long trips he has made in recent years to attend court hearings and accused a judge of harassment, seeking bribes and mocking the judge. In a statement apparently issued by the judge, the allegations are described as “baseless, immoral and defamatory.”
News of the suicide sparked a firestorm of protests in several cities. Many took to social media to demand justice for Subhash.
They said his suicide should be treated as a murder case and targeted Singhania, demanding that she be arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
On X (formerly Twitter), thousands tagged the American multinational company where she worked and called for her to be fired.
After the crime, the Bengaluru police launched an investigation against the people named in the suicide note. On December 14, Singhania, her mother and brother were arrested on charges of “abetment of suicide.”
During interrogation, Singhania denied the allegation that she had harassed Subhash for money. Times of India quoted the police.
Singhania had also made serious allegations against her husband in the past. In their petition for 2022 divorceShe had accused him, his parents and his brother of harassing her over dowry. She said they were unhappy with the gifts given by her parents during the wedding and demanded an additional million rupees.
Dowry has been banned in India since 1961, but the bride’s family is still expected to give cash, clothing and jewelry to the groom’s family. According to a current studyThey account for 90% of Indian marriages and payments amounted to a quarter of a trillion dollars between 1950 and 1999.
And according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 35,493 brides – an average of 20 women per day – were killed in India between 2017 and 2022 over dowry demands, sometimes even years after the wedding. In 2022 alone, more than 6,450 brides were murdered over dowries – that’s an average of 18 women per day.
Singhania claimed that her father died of a heart attack soon after their wedding when Subhash’s parents went to him to demand the money. She also claimed that her husband threatened her and “beat me up after drinking alcohol and treated the husband-wife relationship like a beast” by demanding unnatural sex. Subhash had denied all allegations.
Police say they are still investigating the allegations and counter-allegations, but Subhash’s suicide has led to growing calls to redraft – or even scrap – India’s tough anti-dowry law – Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.
The law was introduced in 1983 after a spate of dowry deaths in Delhi and elsewhere in the country. There were daily reports of brides being burned by their husbands and in-laws, and the murders were often passed off as “kitchen accidents.” Angry protests from female MPs and activists forced parliament to introduce the law.
As advocate Sukriti Chauhan says, “The law came after a long and hard struggle” and “enables women to seek justice for atrocities in their matrimonial homes.”
But over the years, the law has repeatedly made headlines as men’s activists claimed it was being abused by women to harass their husbands and their relatives.
India’s Supreme Court has also repeatedly warned against misuse of the law. On the day Subhash’s suicide was reported, the Supreme Court again – in an unrelated case – pointed out “the growing tendency to misuse the provision as a tool to unleash personal vendetta against the husband and his family”.
Amit Deshpande, founder of Mumbai-based men’s rights organization Vaastav Foundation, says the law is “mainly used to blackmail men” and that “there are thousands of others who suffer like Subhash.”
He said their helpline number receives around 86,000 calls every year and most of the cases are related to marital disputes involving fake dowry cases and extortion attempts.
“A cottage industry has developed around the law. In each case, 18 to 20 people are named as defendants and all must hire lawyers and go to court to apply for bail. There have been cases where a two-month-old baby or a sick nonagenarian has been named in dowry harassment complaints.
“I know these are extreme examples, but the whole system makes this possible in a way. The police, judiciary and politicians are turning a blind eye to our concerns,” he says.
Getty ImagesMr Deshpande says that for more than 50 years, according to government crime data, the vast majority of male suicides have been committed by married men – and family discord was the reason for one in four suicides among them.
Patriarchy, he says, also works against men. “Women resort to laws and get sympathy, but people laugh at men who are harassed or beaten by their wives. If Subhash were a woman, he could have resorted to certain laws. So we make laws gender neutral and expand justice to people so lives can be saved.”
Those who abuse the law must also be punished severely, otherwise it will not act as a deterrent, he added.
Ms Chauhan agrees that women who abuse the law should be punished, but argues that any law can be abused. The Bengaluru case is in court and if it is found to be a false case, she says she should be punished.
“But I do not support the introduction of gender neutrality. Calling for this is regressive because it ignores the need for specific measures that recognize that women are disproportionately affected by violence.”
Those seeking Section 498A are “driven by patriarchy, and because it is a law for women, attempts are being made to abolish it,” she says.
“It came after years of societal patriarchal injustice. And this patriarchy remains the reality of our generation and will continue for generations to come.”
Despite the law, she says, demand for dowries remains high and thousands of brides continue to be killed because of it.
The need of the hour is to “make the law stronger,” she adds.
“If three out of 10 cases filed are false, it is up to the courts to punish them. But women still suffer greatly in this country, so don’t call for the law to be repealed.”
Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter And Facebook.
BBC Action Line
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, here is a list of groups offering help and advice BBC Action Line
