Nagpur: The family of 19-year-old Ankita Khobragade, who died by suicide on June 8, in a press conference on Wednesday accused her boyfriend, 22-year-old Anurag Meshram, of mentally and physically abusing her over several years, ultimately pushing her to take her own life. The boy had turned up drunk at the funeral, triggering a ruckus.Although the girl’s suicide note stated she was taking the step of her own will, her mother Kiran Khobragade alleged she had been emotionally manipulated into writing it. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Khobragade said, “My daughter was a bright graduate student, and he was just a 12th pass. She was committed to him for years, but he cheated on her and mentally tortured her.”The relationship reportedly began more than five years ago, when the girl was still a minor and attending tuition classes. “She believed they had a future. I told her she could marry him after she had a career,” said Khobragade at the press conference.The family alleged the girl confronted Meshram on social media the day before her death, alleging betrayal. They also alleged she had faced physical abuse from him in college and that he frequently argued with her at their home.Khobragade told the media Meshram was also involved in another relationship, and misled her daughter with false promises. Despite her emotional distress, the girl showed no outward signs of depression. “She looked fine, but something was killing her inside,” said Khobragade.There had been reports Meshram tried to jump into the girl’s funeral pyre. However, eyewitnesses said this was not true. After discharge from hospital, Meshram too told police he did not try to jump into the pyre. Khobragade alleged Meshram’s family took advantage of their silence and began circulating false narratives to portray him as innocent. “It’s false propaganda and he is playing the victim card,” she said.Speaking to TOI, inspector Rajendra Patil of Kanhan police station said the suicide note mentioned that the girl was taking the decision of her own will and that no one was responsible for her death. “However, the revelations made by the girl’s parents have made the situation complicated,” he said.Patil added that the police will now seek legal opinion on whether a case of abetment to suicide should be registered against Meshram. “If there had been no suicide note, a case of abetment of suicide would have been the first step,” he said.
