AGRA: In a dramatic twist to an almost two-month-old case involving the “death by suicide” of a 32-year-old man from Muzaffarnagar, an accidental recovery of a video in his formatted phone purportedly revealed his last few words, where he claims “continuous torture by wife and her family led to his humiliating end”. After the startling find, Wasim Sheikh’s kin approached cops at various levels and his body was finally exhumed on Friday on the orders of Muzaffarnagar DM, Umesh Mishra.Wasim, who hailed from Nai Abadi colony in Muzaffarnagar’s Khatauli, had married Sonia from Loni in Ghaziabad about five years ago and settled in a rented home near his in-laws’ place. According to his brother, Sharukh Ahmed, his marital life was riddled with constant disputes, trauma and harassment. And they were always worried for him.On Oct 20, his family received a devastating call: Wasim had died by suicide.Then the unimaginable happened. While restoring some old data from Wasim’s formatted mobile phone on Oct 21, his kin found a backup. And inside it, a video recorded by Wasim shortly before his death, which changed everything.In a trembling voice, Wasim named his wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law for his suffering. In the purported video, he could be heard saying, “I’m leaving this world today. Don’t grieve for me. They tortured me so much that I cannot take it anymore. They stripped me of fatherhood, dignity… I was separated from my children. They should not be spared. I’ve never seen such disrespect and humiliation in my life.“After seeing the clip and suspecting foulplay, Wasim’s mother approached the local police. “On Oct 21, the day after his burial, when my other son put the phone into recovery mode, a video emerged — which made everything clear,” she said.Acting in-charge of Ankur Vihar police station in Ghaziabad, Neeraj Atri, said, “A case under BNS section 108 (abetment of suicide) was registered against the wife and in-laws on Oct 30. Muzaffarnagar administration was then requested to exhume the man’s body.”“On DM’s order, the body of Wasim was exhumed from a graveyard in Khatauli and sent for postmortem. Further steps will be taken after the report,” added Nikita Sharma, the Khatauli SDM.“At first, we approached UP police online portal and were later told to file a case at local thana. So, we approached them on Oct 30. Since there was not much movement in the case, we met senior police officers. They said the process of exhumation takes some time. It finally happened. We want justice for Wasim,” Sharukh said on Saturday.
