In a major twist the Kerala court has handed over the main accused, Shimjitha Mustafa, to 14-day judicial detention due to the gruesome death of a sales manager who shocked his local community. The arrest and subsequent remand are a response to claims of mental harassment and abetment which allegedly precipitated the victim to his extreme act.
Background of the Case
The case centers on a 28-year-old man who was employed as a sales manager at a prominent firm. Last week, the victim was discovered dead at his home, where he left a note and digital evidence that was said to indicate long-term harassment. The victim and the accused were familiar to one another, but the relationship reportedly soured, and the victim experienced a period of extreme psychological distress, police sources said. The family of the victim alleged that Shimjitha Mustafa had been tainting and terrorizing the young manager about personal and financial matters while simultaneously driving him further into depression.
The Investigation and Arrest
After the suicide that the body of its victim would be found, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up to investigate the digital footprints in the victim's case. An abundance of evidence that had been acquired from the victim's mobile phone – chat conversations and call logs – gave the police prima facie sufficient basis to charge Mustafa under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (now equivalent sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) for abetment of suicide.
Shimjitha Mustafa was arrested on account of a few days of absconding. On 22 January 2026, she was presented before the Magistrate who had given her a warrant to wait in judicial custody of two weeks to protect the evidence in case any change were made in the case.
Striking a chord that would resonate beyond private property negotiations. The public’s outcry and the demand of the family. The tragedy has ignited a discourse in Kerala about workplace stress intertwined with personal harassment. Friends and colleagues of the deceased identified him as a “diligent and bright professional” whose life was unnecessarily cut short. "We want justice for our son. He was a strong and brave man, but mental torture kept him broken,” the victim’s family says, outside the court. The family has called on police to look into whether more men and women were involved in the harassment.
Next Steps
The police are likely to move a petition in the next day requesting police custody to interrogate Mustafa about specific electronic evidence and to retrieve deleted messages that may explain the final hours leading up to the manager’s death. In the meantime, the defense attorney has filed a bail application with the court, contending that the charges are supported by circumstantial evidence. The court is expected to hear the bail plea early next week.
