Air Hostess Who Killed Self Wanted Divorce, Says Friend

Anissia Batra, an air hostess with Lufthansa Airlines, who reportedly committed suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of her house in south Delhi’s Panchsheel Park on July 13, was considering taking a divorce from her husband. A friend of Anissia claimed that she was thinking of taking a divorce and was even looking out for houses.

Anissia’s family has alleged that she was murdered by her husband, Mayank Singhvi. They have also alleged that her husband and in-laws were harassing her for dowry. Police arrested Mayank on Monday (16^th July). The Gurgaon software engineer has been remanded in judicial custody for two weeks.

However, the woman who made this claim, did not wish to reveal her identity. She was the last person the deceased had messaged.

Anissia could not have killed herself. She wanted to walk out of her marriage, claimed her friend

She revealed that her husband called her the day Anissia committed suicide. Recalling the conversation, she said, "On the day she died, her husband had called me around 1.30 pm and he seemed furious. I asked him about Anissia and he said she was with him and put the phone on speaker. I had advised them, 'If you are going to give your marriage a final shot, seek professional help because as friends we can only advise you'."

She said she got a WhatsApp message from Anissia later at around 3.56 pm. In the message, Anissia said she had been locked up in a room.

Also: Air Hostess ‘Jumps’ To Death, Family Claims Dowry Torture

She said, "I got a message at 3.56 pm from her saying, 'I have been locked up in the room. Please help. Call the police. I just got my phone back'. I told her that I cannot reach now since I am not in Delhi."

"I told her, 'You leave from there. Go to this friend's house'. She messaged me again, 'He has driven me to this point. I cannot repair what has happened'."

"I told her to leave from there but that message never got delivered," she recalled.

'Too strong to kill self'

The woman doubts that her friend’s death was a suicide.

She emphasized, "She was too strong to take such a step. On Saturday, she was supposed to take a flight and had packed her suitcases, ironed her shirts and was excited. In the last two months, she had made up her mind to move out, had even consulted a divorce lawyer and was talking to real-estate agents and looking for houses in East of Kailash."

She said Mayank and Anissia were having issues in their marriage. Mayank also told police that there were “compatibility issues” and they had regular fights. Her friends claimed that both of them had decided to give each other space.

"Mayank had moved out of the house and was staying at his parents' place. It was only two-three days that he had moved back to his house," she said.

Mayank had anger issues and Anissia's friend said she learned about this six months ago. "She was a private person but she had started speaking out about her marriage slowly. She had sent some pictures of her bruises to a couple of her friends. I learnt about it six months ago because she sought advice from me," she said.

The deceased was seeking advice from her friends. At times, she used to discuss it with her friends and used to say, "This is a marriage and I have to make it work because we have been brought up with this notion."

According to her friends, some of her friends advised her to make it work while others would tell her to move out of the marriage. Anissia was confused earlier. However, in the last couple of months, she had made up her mind to move out of the relationship.

She said Anissia got really upset when she discovered that her husband was a divorcee. As per police officials, Anissia learnt about this a month ago

Her friend claims that Anissia was angry and upset but not this much that she would take such an extreme step.

Also Read: UP Man Beats Wife for Dowry, Sends Video to in-laws

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