Demands justice for son, whose death is linked to in-laws’ harassment; police face criticism over slow action
People at the Marine Drive promenade on Sunday staged a sit-in protest
The arrests in the Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash suicide case, which sparked widespread outrage online and calls for justice for the deceased, have emboldened a grieving mother to seek justice for her son, Ronak Nagda, who took his own life due to alleged harassment by his estranged wife and in-laws in Dombivli on November 29.
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As justice seemed elusive in the alleged atrocities against the salesman, hundreds of people gathered at the Marine Drive promenade on Sunday to stage a sit-in protest. They held banners and placards demanding justice for Atul Subhash and Ronak Nagda. Though an abetment-to-suicide case has been registered against seven people, including the estranged wife and in-laws of 26-year-old Nagda, at the Dombivli police station on December 3, no arrests have been made so far, said the grieving mother, Sangita.
Ronak Nagda, the deceased (right) Sangita Nagda, the deceased’s mother
“The cops are not taking any action against the accused… they always turn us away, saying that investigations are ongoing. I have lost my son, who was mentally harassed to the core by his wife, Palak Furia, and in-laws. His father-in-law, Vipul Jayantilal Furia, would always extort money from my son to allow him to see his wife and daughter, who will turn one on December 22,” said Sangita, a homemaker.
“Ronak and Palak entered into a court marriage in Thane on October 20, 2023, when she was almost six months pregnant. But she never stayed with us. She always lived with her parents. She delivered a baby girl on December 22 last year,” added Sangita.
“My son was desperate to see his daughter and meet his wife, but Vipul would always stop him. Vipul had brainwashed his daughter to not meet or talk to my son, who had become very disturbed. One day, my son was made to stand outside his in-laws’ house for an entire day. After this day-long harassment, when he entered the house, he was brutally assaulted by his in-laws. This happened in March this year,” alleged Sangita, who claimed to have all the medical documents related to the injuries Ronak sustained during the assault.
She further alleged, “Later, my daughter-in-law filed a false domestic violence (DV) case against all of us, including me, my husband, Ronak, and my younger son, who is just 19. Everybody knows that Palak never lived with us, even for a single day after the marriage, yet she had the audacity to file a false DV case. We are still struggling to get rid of this legal mess.”
“I am also a woman, but she [Palak] has been misusing the powers that the law grants to women. This practice must come to an end, and the accused must be severely punished to set an example and deter others from misusing the law,” she added. Speaking further, Sangita said that since Ronak was not allowed to meet his daughter and his relationship with his wife had soured within a few months, “He would remain very upset,” she said.
“My son had been staying at his grandmother’s house in Dombivli. On November 26, he recorded a video on his cellphone, holding his parents-in-law responsible for this tragedy,” said Sangita. She further mentioned that Ronak had been maintaining a diary in which he detailed every expense for his wife and daughter, whom he could not meet for the last eight months.
In the suicide video, Ronak said: “Hello guys, I am going to die by suicide. Vipul Jayantilal Furia and Nita Vipul Furia are responsible for my suicide because they have snatched my wife and daughter from me. Today I am all alone despite doing everything for them. I have not met my child for the last eight months. I know how broken I feel from within. So, guys, goodbye! Take care!”
“He hanged himself from a ceiling fan,” recalled the grieving mother, sobbing as she narrated the incident. “It is frustrating that the cops have not taken any action against the accused so far. Only an FIR has been registered against seven people, including Palak, Vipul, mother-in-law Nita, uncle Piyush Sanghoi, aunt Alka Sanghoi, and cousins Deep and Jinesh,” she added.
“I am thankful to NGO Vaastav Foundation for amplifying my voice in seeking justice for my son, who was just 26,” said the grieving mother. “Had the police taken timely action against the accused, my son would still be alive. I have lost faith in the Thane police, which is why I turned to the NGO for help,” she said.
The founder of Vaastav Foundation, Amit Deshpande, said, “According to the National Crime Records Bureau, every six minutes, a married man dies by suicide in India, with ‘family issues’ being the cause of 35,000 male suicides every year. While we have laws for women, true gender equality will be achieved when men also receive support under the same laws. Men should be included in domestic violence laws, which would address financial, emotional, and sexual violence, just as it does for women.”
“Courts generally adopt an approach that breaks the resolve of men, pushing them toward settlements acceptable to women in matrimonial cases. False accusers should be punished. Men are forced to fight numerous false cases filed in different parts of the country. All of this needs to change. A consolidated litigation in a single court, supported by remote attendance, should be enough to uncover the truth in matrimonial cases,” added Deshpande.
Dombivli police statement
An officer familiar with the investigation said, “We have confiscated the deceased’s cellphone and sent it to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina for further analysis. He named only two people in his suicide video, while his mother has named seven people in the FIR.” “We have already registered an FIR in this case, but we are still awaiting witness statements and the detailed post-mortem report,” added the officer.
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