In a shocking incident in Uttar Pradesh, fashion photographer Sanchita Sharan allegedly committed suicide after receiving information that her MBA graduate husband Harish Bagesh hanged himself in a hotel room in Varanasi. While the reason for Harish’s alleged suicide remains a mystery, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav resorted to using the couple’s tragic end for his political gains.
Akhilesh Yadav claimed that 28-year-old Harish Bagesh committed suicide due to the pressure of losing his job and failing to get another. Yadav went on to drag the ruling BJP into this to claim that the couple’s suicide is an affidavit of BJP’s failure in Uttar Pradesh and that it is not concerned about unemployment or inflation.
In an X post on 8th July, the Samajwadi Party leader posted, “After receiving the news of the husband’s suicide due to the pressure of losing his job and not being able to get another, we received the sad news of the wife also committing suicide. Do we need any bigger affidavit than this for the failure of the BJP government? The BJP is only concerned with the politics of power, not with the pain and suffering of the people, unemployment or inflation. This is a humble request to the people who are frustrated in the BJP rule, that they should not take any such step because suicide is not a solution, the solution is to change the BJP government.”
Similar claims were made by several social media users and opposition-friendly ‘journalists’ including one Ranvijay Singh. In an X post, Singh claimed that Harish committed suicide after getting fed up with unemployment. “This is Sanchita and Harish. They got married 2 years ago. Harish had done his MBA, then he lost his job. Despite a lot of searching, he could not find a job. Now the news is- Harish, fed up with unemployment, committed suicide in Banaras. Upon hearing this news, wife Sanchita committed suicide at her home in Gorakhpur. In the year 2022, 15,783 people in the country committed suicide due to unemployment.
ये संचिता और हरीश हैं
— Ranvijay Singh (@ranvijaylive) July 7, 2024
2 साल पहले इनकी शादी हुई. हरीश ने MBA किया था, फिर नौकरी छूट गई. बहुत खोजने पर भी काम न मिला.
अब खबर है- हरीश ने बेरोजगारी से तंग आकर बनारस में आत्महत्या कर ली.
ये खबर जानकर पत्नी संचिता ने अपने घर गोरखपुर में आत्महत्या कर ली.
साल 2022 में देश में 15,783… pic.twitter.com/H5BxMrX0iV
Sanchita Sharan’s father refutes Akhilesh Yadav’s “suicide over unemployment” claims
Speaking to the media on Monday, July 8, deceased Sanchita Sharan’s father Dr. Ram Sharan refuted the claims made by Akhilesh Yadav and said that the Samajwadi Party leader is doing politics over the couple’s suicide. Sharan said that Harish was doing a job in Mumbai and had around Rs 1 lac per month salary and that it was he who called Harish back to Gorakhpur since the old couple (Sanchita’s parents) were alone here and their son was residing in the UK.
“This is Akhilesh Yadav’s pure politics. This [unemployment] had nothing to do with this [incident]. Harish was doing a job and had a salary above Rs 1 lac in Mumbai. I brought him back here since here two old people [Dr. Sharan and his wife] were alone. My son is residing in UK. So I asked Harish to come here and do some work. So this [Akhilesh’s claim] is baseless…” Ram Sharan said.
Speaking about incidents before Harish’s alleged suicide, Ram Sharan said that Harish Bagesh informed Sanchita on Friday (5th July) that he was leaving for Patna, and Sanchita dropped him off at the railway station the following day. He said that the couple last talked on Saturday evening.
On Sunday morning, police told the family that Harish was found hanged in a hotel room in Atal Nagar Colony, Sarnath, Varanasi. When Sanchita received information about Harish committing suicide, she called him.
Dr Sharan informed the police that as he was about to depart for Varanasi, Sanchita told her father that she could not live without Bagesh and jumped from the building’s second floor.
Superintendent of Police (city) KK Vishnoi said on Monday that the bodies had been sent for post-mortem examination. The officer said that further action in the case will be taken based on the findings of the autopsy report.
Notably, some media reports had also claimed Harish committed suicide due to frustration over unemployment. These reports claimed that the deceased couple could not find a new job after returning from Mumbai where Harish worked in HDFC Bank while Sanchita was residing in the city for the last twelve years. Reports say that while Sanchita’s family had no objection to the couple’s union, Harish’s father was not happy about it.
It has been claimed in media reports that Harish for some reason had slipped into depression and the couple became addicted to drugs. It is said that Sanchita was also unwell and had reportedly developed drugs addiction. This had caused further emotional distress in their lives in addition to financial crunch. The police found narcotics [ganja], cigarettes, a lighter, a mobile, a purse and the rope used for hanging in his room.
Notably, Harish and Sanchita had tied the knot in 2022. The duo studied in the same school and fell in love when they were in 11th standard.
While the investigation in the case is ongoing, by attributing the suicide to unemployment and consequently blaming the government, Akhilesh Yadav is politicizing a personal tragedy. This seems to be an attempt to leverage the situation for political gain rather than expressing concern for the affected families. Speculative statements can mislead the public and add to the grief of the bereaved families. Anyone, especially opposition leaders should await the results of a thorough investigation before attributing causes to such tragedies.
