New Delhi:
After a year of struggling with depression, addiction and personal setbacks, Abhinav Singh of Odisha’s Cuttack was on the mend. A healthy diet, daily morning walks with his father and a new job in Bengaluru meant life was on track. However, barely a week after reaching the Karnataka capital, he was dead, his body found face-down on the floor of his bedroom.
According to the police, Abhinav, 32, died by suicide after consuming poison at his rented apartment in Bengaluru’s Kadubeesanahalli area on February 9, just a week after moving to the Karnataka capital for work. Abhinav had previously worked in Bengaluru for many years, working as an automation testing engineer at a leading firm.
Abhinav’s family has accused his wife and in-laws of mental harassment that allegedly drove him to suicide.
On the night of the incident, Abhinav had dinner with a friend before returning to his room, where he allegedly consumed poison. An empty bottle of poison was found in the bedroom, which the police believe he had purchased online and received the previous evening.
“We do not yet know what kind of poison he consumed and are awaiting a report from the Forensic Science Laboratory,” police said.
Photo Credit: Image posted on Facebook by Abhinav Singh
News agency PTI, citing a senior police officer, said no suicide note was recovered from Abhinav’s flat. However, his mother has told local media that Mr Singh did leave behind a handwritten note, which has been seized by Bengaluru police.
On Tuesday night, Abhinav’s body was flown from Bengaluru to Cuttack where the family performed the last rites.
Abhinav’s family has alleged that his wife subjected him to mental harassment, which ultimately pushed him to the brink. His father, Bijaynanda Singh, a noted author and academician, has filed a complaint at Lalbagh police station in Cuttack, naming Abhinav’s wife, his in-laws and other individuals.
According to local media reports, things between Abhinav and his wife were rocky after he was reportedly caught at a hotel in Bhubaneswar with other women last year. Accompanied by police officers, Abhinav’s wife recorded the bust. The video of the incident went viral on social media. Around that time, an Odia actress accused him of preventing the release of her music video and allegedly attacking her. Abhinav had denied all accusations, claiming he was the target of a conspiracy orchestrated by the actress and her associates.
Abhinav and his wife had separated but since he was recovering and getting his life back on track, there were attempts by both to patch things between them. Speaking to NDTV, Abhinav’s wife said that both of them often spoke on the phone working towards resolving their issues.
“These are baseless allegations. His family knows I loved and cared for him,” Abhinav’s wife told NDTV. “I had moved out of my in-laws’ house but I loved Abhinav and wanted nothing but the best for him in life.”
A resident of Cuttack’s Kaligali, Abhinav was one of the pioneering figures in Odisha’s hip-hop scene. Known by his stage name “Juggernaut”, Abhinav was a rapper whose songs have garnered millions of views on YouTube. His channel and production company Urban Loafer is one of the earliest platforms to support local hip-hop talent in Odisha, a state not often associated with Western music.
Abhinav, more often than not, poured all of his money from his engineering job into buying mics, production gear, musical instruments and tech to create songs for himself and other musicians in the Odisha hip-hop scene.
