Bhubaneswar: An Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer, who has been booked on the charge of “cruelty, negligence and mental harassment” towards his wife and newborn son, Friday asserted that he would not end up like Atul Subhash and would fight till the end.
Atul Subhash was a software engineer from Bengaluru who died by suicide last year after allegedly being harassed by his wife.
The OAS officer was addressing reporters while appearing before Mahila police station in Bhubaneswar in response to a notice issued to him following a complaint against him by his wife.
His wife, a government engineer, had filed a complaint against him, following which a case had been registered under different sections of BNS and Dowry Prevention Act.
He rejected all the allegations made by his wife and said that he has faith in police, judiciary and above all, in Lord Jagannath.
“I will not make an Atul Subhash… I will fight till the end. I have faith in the court and in Lord Jagannath,” he said, claiming that rather, he was harassed by his wife for caring for his widowed mother.
The officer had married the government engineer February 21, 2024 and the couple was blessed with a son May 10 this year.
The woman, in her FIR, claimed that her husband abandoned her and their newborn baby at the hospital. She lodged a complaint against her husband’s mother and sister as well.
Dismissing his wife’s allegations, the officer instead accused her of subjecting him to mental harassment and using their child for emotional blackmail.
He accused his wife of creating hindrances for him to take care of his widowed mother.
“I am the only person who is there to take care of my mother. My father has died. When I did my duty as a son, my wife raised objections. She never cared for my mother. I was undergoing mental trauma,” he said.
Asked about the reason behind his allegedly abandoning his wife and newborn son at the hospital, the officer said, “I was all along at the hospital and took care of my wife. I stayed round-the-clock for three days and even did all the chores that are required to be done for a woman after delivery. There was no help from anyone, including in-laws. However, when I came home for a brief period to take rest and enquire about my mother’s health, my wife created a scene at the hospital. She asked me to choose between my mother and my child.”
Stating that he had since then not met his newborn son, the officer said that he feared that his wife might create an untoward situation if he attempted to meet the child.
“For my safety, I haven’t met my child. However, I want to meet the baby through a formal channel. I am ready to take the responsibility of my child officially, like, through a court order,” the bureaucrat said.
PTI
