Mumbai suicide case: After Nishant Tripathi, 41, ended his life in a Mumbai hotel, allegedly due to harassment by his wife and aunt, his grieving mother penned a heartbreaking note. Neelam Chaturvedi expressed her unbearable pain, saying she now feels like a living corpse. She lamented that her son should have been the one to perform her last rites, but instead, she and her daughter had to endure the agony of bidding him farewell.
Chaturvedi ended his life on February 28 in the bathroom of the Sahara Hotel, where he had checked in three days earlier. Before taking the extreme step, he placed a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on his door. When hotel staff knocked for room service and received no response for a long time, they used a master key to enter. They found Tripathi hanging in the bathroom and immediately informed the airport police. His body was then sent for a post-mortem. The police have filed an FIR against Tripathi’s wife, Apoorva Parikh, and aunt, Prarthana Mishra, for abetment to suicide and have launched an investigation. The police have not yet made any arrests in the matter.
Chaturvedi, who is a women’s rights defender committed to social and gender justice, shared a long post on Facebook after performing her son’s last rites on March 2. “You see me as a living person, but the truth is, I am already dead. Today, I feel like a living corpse. My son, Nishant. He was my everything," she wrote on the Meta-owned platform.
She added, “Both my children loved me deeply, but Nishant was my friend, my companion, and my greatest support. He was my strength, the source of my energy to live and work. My life is over now."
“My son, Nishant, has left me. I am now nothing more than a living corpse. He was supposed to perform my last rites, but today, on March 2, I performed my son’s cremation…. My daughter, Prachi, carried out her elder brother’s last rites," she went on to say.
In the emotional post, she also mentioned her journey as an activist. “At the age of 18, I was arrested for the first time during a protest, and after that, this journey continued with countless struggles, movements, and fights for justice. Through Sakhi Kendra and other means, I have helped resolve the problems of more than 46,000 women victims, secured justice for over 37,000 women, and provided employment and training to thousands of women to make them self-reliant," she wrote, before adding, “I dedicated every moment of my life with utmost sincerity and honesty to fighting for women’s rights, bringing gender equality to society, and eliminating discrimination from the age of 16 to 45."
Chaturvedi went on to say that she never complained to God and raised her children single-handedly but is devastated by the loss of her son, who meant the world to her. “I was never driven by greed. I neither built a bank balance nor accumulated wealth. My only wealth was the love and respect I received from people across the country and beyond. I raised my two children alone, and I have always been proud of it. But I never complained; instead, I always thanked God."
While seeking strength for herself and her daughter to endure the loss, she said, “Yesterday, during the funeral, some of my friends and a few family members were present, but the ones who loved Nishant were the most in number. The truth is, all of them felt no less than family. The actors and directors who had worked with Nishant also considered him a part of their own family."
“Seeing his friends, who were more like brothers to him, made me realise just how deeply so many people loved my son. Yet, he didn’t tell anyone that he was about to take such a drastic step," she concluded her emotional post.
In a password-protected suicide note uploaded to his company’s website, Tripathi expressed his love for his wife. However, he also stated that she and his aunt pushed him to take this extreme step.
“Hi, bab., By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. In my last moments, I could’ve hated you for everything that happened, but I don’t. For this moment, I choose love. I loved you then. I love you now. And as I had promised, it’s not going to fade," Tripathi’s suicide note read.
It added, “My mother knows that among all the other struggles I faced, you and Prarthana Mausi [aunt] are also responsible for my death."
The note concluded with the words: “So, I beg you, don’t approach her now. She’s broken enough. Let her grieve in peace."
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