Youth ends life after live-in partner's family assaults him in Bengaluru; 3 arrested

Three members of a family were arrested for abetting the suicide of a 21-year-old man, who had ended his life as he was unable to bear the humiliation of his live-in partner's relatives.

Police said Totashree Manikanta died by suicide on July 13 in Jolarpettai, Tamil Nadu. While the case was initially filed at the Jolarpettai police station, it was subsequently transferred to Bengaluru's HSR Layout police station because the deceased lived in the neighbourhood where he was assaulted by the suspects. 

Manikanta, a student at a private college in Bengaluru, was living in an HSR Layout flat with his friend, a resident of the city. Though Manikanta’s family supported their relationship, the girl's family strongly opposed it. 

On July 11, five of the girl's relatives barged into the flat, assaulted the couple, and hauled her back home. They didn't stop at that. They returned the next day and asked Manikanta to leave Bengaluru or kill himself. 

Feeling humiliated, Manikanta went home to Jolarpettai on July 13 and allegedly lay on the railway track. 

"Manikanta called his girlfriend the previous day and said he felt humiliated by what her relatives had done to him," a police officer close to the investigation quoted the woman as saying. 

The officer said that based on the statement given by Manikanta’s 21-year-old partner, three of her family members had been arrested, while two more were on the run. 

The arrested suspects are Deekshith, Hemanth and Ravikumar.