Mumbai Crime: Woman held for driving fiancé to end his life

Ankit Kokare’s father was initially opposed to the relationship. Representation pic

The Kandivli police have arrested a 25-year-old woman for allegedly mentally harassing her fiance and driving him to suicide. The complaint was filed in July by 58-year-old Lakshman Kokare after his son Ankit Kokare hanged himself at their home in Charkop.

Sources from Charkop police station said Ankit was an IT graduate and had been working for a private company for the past four years. In 2019, Ankit's father had found out that his son was in love with a relative's daughter, Pragati Jore. However, he didn't approve of the relationship because he found her too stubborn. Lakshman had adopted Ankit from an ashram in Andheri West after he and his wife could not have their own biological children. Lakshman had asked Ankit to stay away from Jore. This enraged Jore and she allegedly began torturing Ankit over phone and WhatsApp, threatening to file a rape case against him if he backed out of marrying her.

In his statement to the police, Lakshman said when his son demanded that he agree to his marriage with Jore, the father agreed and tried to buy a house for them. However, after a few months, Ankit lost his job and Lakshman too was unable to raise funds for the new house. "Jore again started torturing Ankit to ask me to give the money for the house," said Lakshman in his statement. This led to frequent fights between the couple. Ankit then slipped into depression.

In July 2021, Ankit hanged himself at his home when his parents had gone out, said an officer from Charkop police station. On returning, Lakshman found a suicide note saying that Ankit was being harassed by Jore. "I then went through Ankit's WhatsApp messages and found Jore's abusive language. I also came across phone recordings where she had been harassing him," said Lakshman.

A senior officer told mid-day, "We verified the complaint by Kokare [Lakshman] and arrested Jore on November 3. She was presented before the court on Monday and was remanded in judicial custody." The police have booked Jore under IPC Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation).

July
Month when Ankit killed himself