Manav Sharma, who worked for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), took his own life on February 24 by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Agra. Manav accused his wife, Nikita Sharma, of being unfaithful to him in a video recording shot before he took his life, saying that because of this, he did what he did.
But Nikita has refuted these claims, citing that Manav fixated on her past and that this caused violent outbursts, self-injury, and alcoholism. She also added that on the night of his death, she kept insisting that his sister, Akansha, check on him. Leaked WhatsApp conversations between Nikita and Akansha seem to corroborate this, with Akansha telling Nikita to ‘ignore’ Manav’s calls and sleep.
Approximately 2:00 AM, Nikita had messaged Akansha in response to why Manav would not listen. Akansha’s reply was, ‘It’s okay. Ignore. Sleep’. Nikita then went on to describe the eerie scene whereby she had been watching Manav sitting on one chair on the bed with the cloth around his neck and with another tied onto the fan. She cautioned that he was inebriated and could endanger himself.
Even after Nikita’s repeated requests for Akansha to act, Akansha assured her that nothing would occur and told her to ‘be strong’ and ‘relax’. ‘Nikky, relax ho ja. Tujhe strong hona padega ab’, she wrote.
The exchange also showed that Manav had attempted suicide before but had been rescued by his wife then.
Transcription of the WhatsApp messages:
Nikita: Didi, bhot drunk hai Manav. Meri bilkul nahi sun rahe hain. (Didi, Manav is very drunk. He is not listening to me at all.)
Akansha: Koi na. Ignore. Soja tu. (It’s okay. Ignore. Go to sleep.)
Nikita: Nahi didi. Wo chair rakhi hai bed par. Dupatta hai sir me. Video call me dekha hai. Wo kuch kar lenge. (No, Didi. He has placed a chair on the bed. He has a dupatta on his head. I saw it on a video call. He will do something.)
Akansha: Maine message kiya hai usko. (I have messaged him.)
Nikita: Wo mujhse gussa kar rahe hain. Didi, please, aap call karo unko. Wo kar lenge kuch. Video call pe dikha ke kar rahe hain mujhe. (He is angry at me. Didi, please, call him. He will do something. He is showing me on the video call while doing it.)
Akansha: Be strong.
Nikita: Main papa ko bhi nahi bata sakti. (I can’t even tell Papa.)
Akansha: Relax.
Nikita: Wo mujhe video call kar rahe hain baar baar ki main suicide kar raha hun, dekh le tu. (He is calling me repeatedly on video, saying, “I am committing suicide, watch me.”)
Akansha: Kuch nahi hoga. Relax. (Nothing will happen. Relax.)
Nikita: Nahi didi, wo sach me kar lega. Wo bhot drunk hain is time. (No, Didi. He will really do it. He is very drunk right now.)
Akansha: Shaant reh tu. (Stay calm.)
Nikita: Sab ready rakha hai unhone. (He has prepared everything.)
Akansha: Nikky, please relax. Tujhe strong hona padega ab. (Nikky, please relax. You will have to be strong now.)
Nikita: Room me akele hain, kuch kar liya to? Main wahan nahi hun abhi. Kab se samjha rahi hun, nahi samajh aa rha hai. Bol rahe hain subha tak milunga nahi. (He is alone in the room. What if he does something? I am not there right now. I have been trying to make him understand for a while, but he is not listening. He is saying he won’t meet me until morning.)
Akansha: To akela choda kyun? (Then why did you leave him alone?)
Nikita: Papa ki tabiyat kharab ho gai thi aaj bhot to ghar aa gai thi aaj. (Papa’s health worsened a lot today, so I came home.)
Akansha: Yar ye sab drame karne aye hai yahan. (He has come here to create all this drama.)
Nikita: Main papa ko bhi nahi bol sakti. (I can’t even tell Papa.)
Akansha: Unko nahi bolna kuch. (Don’t tell him anything.)
Nikita: Han tabhi aapko call kiya. Kaise samjhaun main ab? (Yes, that’s why I called you. How do I make him understand now?)
Akansha: Message kar rahi hun use. Jab ek do baar me kisi ko samajh na aae to bar bar samjhana nahi chahiye. (I am messaging him. When someone doesn’t understand after being told once or twice, there is no point in repeatedly explaining.)
Nikita: Kuch kar lenge wo. (He will do something.)
Akansha: Nahi karega. Usko zyada call mat kar ab. (He won’t do anything. Don’t call him too much now.)
Nikita: Wo mujhe kar rahe hain baar baar. Video call kar kar ke dikha rahe hain. (He is calling me again and again. He is showing me on video call.)
Akansha: Abhi call par hai? (Is he on the call right now?)
Nikita: Cut kiya. Aap kar lo call. Samjha dijie please. (He disconnected. Please call him and make him understand.)
Akansha: Ok.
Nikita: Meri to kuch bhi nahi sun rahe. Bas mar raha hun. (He is not listening to me at all. He is just saying he is dying.)
Akansha: Leave. Soja tu. (Go to sleep.)
Nikita: Kaise didi, wo drunk hain. Kuch kar lia to? (How, sister? He is drunk. What if he does something?)
Akansha: Aankh band karke. (By closing your eyes.)
Nikita: Unhone sach me sab ready kar ke rakha hai. Bed par chair, dupatta. (He has actually prepared everything. Chair on the bed, a scarf.)
Akansha: Jaisa sochoge waisa hoga. Rehne de. Tum log kya ye sab galich harkaton par aa gae ho. Acha soch. Or soja. (What you think is what will happen. Leave it. Have you all started indulging in such disgusting actions? Think positively and sleep.)
Nikita: Sorry didi, but jab mujhse handle nahi hua tab aapko call kiya hai. (Sorry, sister, but I called you when I couldn’t handle it.)
Akansha: Subha dekhenge. (We will see in the morning.)
Nikita: Meri bilkul bhi nahi sun rahe hain. (He is not listening to me at all.)
Akansha: Handle nai karte aise situation. (This is not how such situations are handled.)
Nikita: Sirf papa hain ghar pe unko kuch bol nahi sakti abhi. (Only dad is at home, I can’t tell him anything right now.)
Akansha: Ignore karte hain. Ek baar koi galti kare to use samjhaya ja sakta hai. Salon ho gae samjhate samjhate. Isne meri kasam khayi thi ki Akku ab kabhi aisa nahi karunga. Par meri kasam isne Mumbai me tod di fir ye karke. (Just ignore it. If someone makes a mistake once, they can be made to understand. But it’s been years of explaining. He swore to me, saying, “Akku, I will never do this again.” But he broke that promise in Mumbai by doing this again.)
Nikita: Uske baad bhi kasam khayi thi. Sabka bol ke samjha dia. Tumhe alag hona hai kal hi ho jate hain, but ye sab mat karo. (Even after that, he swore again. I explained everything to everyone. If you want to separate, do it tomorrow itself, but don’t do all this.)
Akansha: Apne ko pyar karte ho to unka kuch to maan rakhoge? (If you love yourself, you should at least respect their feelings a little.)
Nikita: Ab bhi phone kar rahe hain bar bar. (He is still calling again and again.)
Akansha: Mat utha. Let it be. Leave. (Don’t pick up. Let it be. Leave it.)
Nikita: Nahi utha rahi to gaali de rahe hain. Bhot zyada drunk hain. (He is abusing me because I am not picking up. He is extremely drunk.)
Akansha: To gali message kar raha hai na? Karne de. (So he is sending abuses over messages? Let him.)
Nikita: Thik hai aap so jaiye. Sorry didi. Sorry. (Okay, you sleep. Sorry, sister. Sorry.)
Akansha: Arey. (Oh.)
Nikita: Bas dar lag raha hai bhot. (I am just very scared.)
Akansha: Tujhe bhi samajh nai aa rha kya kehna chahti hun. Galat dar hai ye. Dar lag bhi raha hai to usko mat dikha. (Do you not understand what I am trying to say? This fear is unnecessary. Even if you are scared, don’t show it to him.)
Nikita: Wo pehle kar chuke hain is liye lag raha hai. (He has done it before, that’s why I am scared.)
Akansha: Dekh le behen tu ab. Raat ko 10 baje baat cheet khatam karne ki aadat dalo. Jitni batein, utne masle. (You decide now, sister. Get into the habit of ending conversations by 10 PM. The more you talk, the more problems arise.)
Nikita: Sahi bol rahe ho aap. Kaash maine bol diya hota so rahi hun. (You are right. I wish I had just said I was sleeping.)
Akansha: Aur rahi baat kuch karne ki to ab kya bolun. (And as for him doing something, what can I even say now?)
Nikita: Meri sunne ko tayyar nahi hain bas ulta seedha bol rahe hain bhot. (He is not ready to listen to me and is just talking nonsense.)
Akansha: Mat sun fir. Ignore. (Then don’t listen.)
Nikita: Call kar rahe hain? Nahi uthaun? (He is calling? Should I not pick up?)
Akansha: Silent. Ab toh utha. Tu jagi hai. Usko pata hai. (Put it on silent. Now just pick up. He knows you are awake.)
[Six messages that Akansha sent to Nikita were deleted from her end.]
Nikita: Okay. So jao aap. (Okay. You go to sleep.)
(The transcription of WhatsApp messages has not been edited by The Daily Guardian)