Woman booked for abetting boyfriend’s suicide

On November 1, when Howad came home, he found his son allegedly hanging from the ceiling fan. Pratham was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival

Mumbai: A woman was booked on Saturday for allegedly abetting the suicide of her 20-year-old boyfriend.

The deceased, Pratham, a commerce student at a college based in the Hiranandani complex in Powai.

According to Sachin Howad, 46, the father of the deceased, Pratham, a commerce student at a college based in the Hiranandani complex in Powai, was allegedly in a relationship with Pritanshi Mehta, who is a resident of Kandivali.

On November 1, when Howad came home, he found his son allegedly hanging from the ceiling fan. Pratham was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

“At that time, I was not aware of the reason behind my son’s suicide, but as days passed and I started looking for answers, a few of his friends told me that he was under pressure as Pritanshi had been blackmailing him,” said Howad.

In 2022, Pratham had allegedly gifted Pritanshi a mobile phone, but when they broke up, Pratham had asked her to return the phone after deleting her pics and other data. Pritanshi had then called him to meet and registered a complaint against him for stealing the mobile phone and assaulting her. “When I received a call from the court, I learnt about his arrest by the Kandivali police as my son did not open up to me because I was a little strict with him,” said Howad.

After Pratham was out on bail, Pritanshi allegedly continued to talk to him demanding money for shopping. When he refused, Pritanshi threatened to lodge another complaint against him.

“Pratham also spoke to Pritanshi’s father. He had the conversation recorded where he told him that he was being mentally harassed by his daughter,” said Howad, a businessman.

A few days after the final rites, Howad went to submit an application against his son’s girlfriend, but they did not take his complaint. The Powai police registered the case a month later, on Saturday, after the DCP intervened.

The accused has been booked section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. “We are now verifying the complaint and the allegations made by the father of the deceased,” said a police officer from Powai police station.