New Delhi: As Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash’s suicide case sends shockwaves across the country, his brother Bikash Kumar has raised a new debate asking for “How long, will the men be seen just as money machine”?

Speaking to Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami , Subhash’s brother mentioned instances of how the techie was being harassed by his wife and her family.

Bikash mentioned one instance when Atul’s wife (Nikita Singhania) demanded Rs 5 lakh and threatened with court cases if he did not pay her. His brother further said that the kind of allegations levelled on Subhash in the last two years will show how they made mockery of the law.

He mentioned that the woman’s family kept filing the same cases at different intervals of time.

Atul’s brother also informed that he (Subhash) also named many judges in his case. “Justice is due… many men are going through this trauma… for how long will men be seen as money machine?”

“After Nirbhaya… the law which was brought… the women are now using the same law and misusing the act… Are there any rights against misuse of women empowerment,” Bikash Kumar asked.

“If a man shares his trauma then the society takes it in a wrong way,” Atul’s brother concluded.

Extreme Harassment, Says Atul Subhash’s brother     

Earlier today, Bikash Kumar stated that the family is determined to seek justice, alleging that Atul endured “extreme harassment.” He further claimed that many men in India face false accusations, which has turned the law into a “cruel joke.”

Speaking to the media, Bikash Kumar said, “The suicide note my brother left begins with the words, ‘Justice is due.’ We want justice at any cost.”
He continued, “In his note, he wrote that if he gets justice, his ashes should be immersed in the Ganga. However, if justice is denied, his ashes should be thrown into a drain outside the court. If there is any law in India that protects men, we want to know about it. My brother endured extreme harassment, and there are countless others like him in the country who are falsely accused. False cases are being filed against men, and the law is being misused.”
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Whitefield, Shivakumar, confirmed that Atul Subhash died by suicide on December 9, allegedly due to harassment from his wife and her family.
Speaking to ANI, the DCP said, “Atul Subhash died by suicide in the early hours of December 9. A complaint has been lodged at the Marathahalli police station in Bengaluru regarding the incident. Several cases were pending against him in Uttar Pradesh.”
He added, “His wife and her family demanded money to settle these cases and harassed him. This led him to take his own life. Based on the complaint, we have registered an FIR against the accused, and an investigation is underway.”
The tragic case of Atul Subhash has reignited a broader debate over the misuse of dowry laws in India. The Supreme Court has previously raised concerns about the growing trend of misusing Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which addresses cruelty by husbands and their relatives against married women.
In a related instance, while dismissing a Section 498A IPC case against a husband and his parents, a bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh observed that the provision is sometimes exploited as a tool for personal vendetta against the husband and his family.