Trombay cops finally book woman, father in suicide abetment case

Manav Lalwani’s residence in Deonar

The Trombay police, acting on the directions given by the Supreme Court last month, have booked a woman and her father for abetting the suicide of 24-year-old Deonar resident Manav Lalwani. The FIR was filed on Tuesday, almost two years after Manav's suicide.

The cops have booked both under Indian Penal Code Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and 34 (common intention). It took approximately eight hours to register the FIR after the authorities took down the statement of the deceased's father, Prakash Lalwani.

The Supreme Court on September 27 ordered the Trombay police to register an FIR against Mahima Thakur, the woman friend of the deceased, and her father Pravin Thakur. Justices M M Sundresh and Sanjay Kumar, however, also directed the police not to arrest the duo and asked them to cooperate during the investigation.

Manav Lalwani

Manav was running an electronic goods business founded by his father. On December 2, 2021, he hanged himself on the terrace of his bungalow at Green Acres. The Lalwani family had been demanding a probe into the incident. The family also suspected Mahima and Pravin Thakur.

As the Trombay cops had registered an accidental death report (ADR), the Lalwanis approached the Kurla magistrate court, but it turned down their request to file an FIR. Subsequently, the family knocked on the doors of the sessions court. While the court directed the cops to file an FIR, the order was stayed. Hence the family went to the Supreme Court and filed a special leave petition in 2023.

The Lalwani family submitted the court order to the Trombay police on October 6 after which the cops called the family to register an FIR on Monday evening.

According to the FIR, Prakash Lalwani stated, "There was some argument between Manav and Mahima and two of her friends at the gate of the society where both lived 4-5 days before his suicide. Also, a few hours before the death, Manav had a fight with Mahima over some unknown reasons at the parking lot of the society."

"When I came to know about the argument, I downloaded the CCTV app used by society members to view the footage but I was shocked to see that, the recordings of the entrance camera were there but footage of the CCTV camera in the parking lot from December 1 to 4 was deleted. Only office-bearers of the housing society have access to the CCTV app and password. Pravin Thakur was the secretary at the time."

The FIR also states that the last call made by Manav was to Mahima and after he had tied a rope around his neck, he made a video call to someone. He kept the phone in the front pocket of his trousers before hanging himself. When Manav's brother Sumair checked the phone, he found that a lot of WhatsApp messages had been deleted.

Ravindra Ranshevare, senior inspector of Trombay police station said, "As per the directives of the Supreme Court, we have booked a woman and her father for abetting the suicide. We will probe their role in connection with the incident." Prakash Lalwani expressed satisfaction over the registration of the. Asked about the delay in filing the FIR on Monday night, he refused to speak.

Sept 27
Day SC passed order