NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has refused bail to a man accused of abetting his wife’s suicide on Diwali, noting the “grave allegations” against him and the early stage of the investigation.
The accused, Vashu Gupta alias Vasu Bubna, arrested on October 25, had sought bail on the grounds that his sister’s wedding was scheduled for November 30 and his own for November 21.
Principal district and sessions judge Swati Katiyar rejected the plea, observing that there was a high likelihood that the accused could influence or intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence if released. The court said the probe into the woman’s death was still at a “nascent stage.”
The judge referred to a suicide note recovered from the woman’s diary, which “prima facie shows that the deceased was driven to commit suicide because of the conduct of the accused.” The diary also reportedly contains details of repeated torture and an earlier suicide attempt.
According to the prosecution, the couple had an argument on October 20, after which the woman was allegedly beaten and tortured. The next day, Gupta called the woman’s father, claiming he had gone to his mother’s house following the fight and that his wife was not answering his calls.
Later that afternoon, the woman’s brother was alerted about her death. He reached the residence to find her hanging from a ceiling fan, while the husband was allegedly in an inebriated condition. The woman’s mother subsequently filed an FIR at Laxmi Nagar police station.
Opposing the bail plea, complainant’s counsel Atul Jain argued that Gupta’s claim of needing to attend family weddings was unfounded, as he had been disowned by his family in 2020. Public prosecutor Praveen Kumar added that the investigation was still in its initial phase and the post-mortem report was awaited.
