Bengaluru techie dies by suicide after being blackmailed

A 24-year-old techie in Bengaluru allegedly committed suicide after being blackmailed by a relative, who threatened to share her nude photos with her parents

Bengaluru: A 24-year-old techie allegedly committed suicide in Bengaluru after being threatened by her close relative that he would share her nude photos with her parents if she did not follow his commands.

The accused identified as Praveen Singh has been arrested. The victim’s mother complained to the police against Praveen Singh and his wife Sandhya Singh.

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The victim spent most of the time at Praveen and Sandhya’s residence and also went on trips with them during holidays, police said quoting the complainant. On January 12, at 8.40 p.m., the victim’s mother was informed that she had sustained burn injuries and was being shifted to the Victoria Hospital.

When the family reached the hospital, the victim was unconscious in an ambulance with burns all over her body. Later, she was declared dead by the doctors.

As the victim’s parents were clueless about her death, one of her friends met them on January 13 and revealed to her parents that Praveen had saved her nude photos and used them to sexually assault her.

The victim’s friend told her parents that she took the extreme step as she was unable to bear the torture. During the inquiry, police found that the victim set herself afire at a hotel located near Kundalahalli Metro Station.

The victim’s parents claimed that their daughter was not weak and ended her life due to torture by Praveen. A case has been registered under Sections 108, 3 (5) of the BNS Act. DCP (Whitefield) Shiv Kumar stated, “In HAL police station limits, a 25-year-old woman has committed suicide by burning herself. A case has been registered in this regard. The woman committed suicide out of fear after being threatened that the private videos and photos would be shown to her parents. The victim was known to the accused for six years.”

“The accused is a close relative. A room was booked at the Radha Hotel and the accused was forcing the victim to see the photos and videos. The victim reached the petrol and set herself ablaze,” he said.

However, sources said, the victim was developing closeness to another man, and irked over it, Praveen threatened her to share her private photos and videos with her parents. More details are awaited.