Marathi filmmaker found dead, posts 'suicide note' on Facebook

Marathi film producer Atul B. Tapkir was found dead at a luxury hotel here on Sunday morning, police said. He was 35. A post on Tapkir's Facebook page indicates he was disturbed over financial loss in filmmaking and a troubled family life. Police had to break open the hotel room where they found Tapkir's body. A case of accidental death (ADR) has been registered by the Deccan Gymkhana Police Station, and the body has been sent for an autopsy, a police official told IANS. One of the last 'suicidal' messages posted on Tapkir's Facebook page on Saturday suggests he was depressed over the financial losses he suffered by producing Marathi film "Dhol Taashe". In the lengthy post, he claimed that while his father and sisters backed him, his wife Priyanka allegedly harassed him. Tapkir said his wife threw him out of their home, and he was living out of the house since six months. He was also upset as she alienated their children from him, apart from making allegations against him, defaming him in the neighbourhood and abusing him. Tapkir's post -- written in Marathi -- mentioned that his wife got her "so-called" brothers to threaten and beat him up. He shared how when some days ago, he called her and abused her, she abused him and his family in return and lodged a police complaint against them. Tapkir has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that "the police must listen to a man's side of the story too when a woman lodges a complaint". He said his last wish was that since his wife cannot look after their children, his father should raise them. As proof of the harassment he faced, Tapkir said he has saved in a pen drive, the incident when his wife's brother hurled abuses at him. (Source: IANS)