Nerul suicide: Brother claims foul play

Says roommates were harassing him, alleges cops are refusing to file murder FIR

A few days before his death, Bhushan Waghmare (left) had asked a friend to stay at his flat, complaining of his roommate’s behaviour.

Navi Mumbai: The younger brother of a Wipro employee, who allegedly killed himself on Friday, has accused his two roommates of foul play, claiming that they were harassing his brother for months.

Bhushan Waghmare, 36, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at Om Sai housing society in Sector 20, Nerul, on Friday night. Waghmare, who worked as a senior associate with Wipro, had shifted to the Nerul flat a year ago, while the roommates have been living there for two-and-a-half months.

“I have a lot of evidence and witnesses to show that this cannot be a suicide. But police officials are paying no heed, and are not filing an FIR of murder,” said Rakesh Waghmare, who works as a cosmetics counsellor.

Mr. Waghmare said the roommates had been harassing his brother ever since they started living in the flat. “The landlord, who is in Delhi, had given my brother the responsibility of getting roommates and their verification documents. After they shifted to the flat, my brother asked the roommates to submit their documents for police verification. But instead, they abused him, asking him who gave him the right to ask for their documents. He was feeling harassed and tortured, and had even informed the landlord, the society’s secretary and the corporator about it. He had kept everybody informed about what was happening, since he feared that something would go wrong. Though the police are saying that the roommates found him dead when they came back from work, I have heard from the neighbours that the roommates were in the house when the incident happened,” said Mr. Waghmare, who lives with his father in Kharghar.

On June 13, Bhushan had messaged his friend, Sachin Gaikwad, an ex-Wipro employee, to come stay at the flat. “He was afraid that the roommates would do something to him. That night, he told me that his roommates had been torturing him over the documents. He was not the kind of person who would commit suicide over this. I had told him that I would come to stay with him every night till things got resolved, but after that I could not go as I was staying late at work,” Mr. Gaikwad said.

According to Mr. Waghmare, a day prior to Bhushan’s death, an officer from the Nerul police station had visited the flat after Bhushan complained to them about the roommates not submitting the documents. “The policeman told the roommates to vacate the flat if they did not wish to undergo the verification process. The roommates had asked for time till June 30. My brother was very good at his job. On the same day, his work had been appreciated and he told me that he was very happy. Why would a person who had had a great day at work go home and commit suicide? Just like every day, he had knocked on the neighbour’s door to inform the maid working there that he was home and she could come to the flat to cook. After around 15 minutes, the maid knocked on the door, but when nobody opened it, she left. If a person had to commit suicide, why would he ask the maid to come home to cook?” Mr. Waghmare asked.

The prima facie report by the civic doctor has mentioned that the death was caused by asphyxia.

“We are yet to receive the post mortem report, and once the report confirms how the asphyxia happened, we can form a conclusion. If there is any foul play, we will register the case accordingly and investigate. As of now, an accidental death case has been registered,” Assistant Police Inspector Ganpat Parchake said.