Karnataka, October 18, 2025: In a high-profile case involving domestic disputes and allegations of misuse of power, a 2019-batch IPS officer from the Karnataka cadre, Shivanshu Rajput, has been booked along with six family members and associates for dowry harassment, domestic violence, and criminal intimidation following a complaint by his wife, Dr. Kriti Singh, a practicing doctor in Noida.
The FIR, lodged at Sector 126 police station in Gautam Buddha Nagar on 16 October 2025, details claims of sustained mental and physical abuse since their 2021 marriage, including demands for additional dowry despite her family reportedly spending over Rs 1.4 crore on the wedding.
Rajput, currently posted as Superintendent of Police (SP) with the State Crime Record Bureau in Bengaluru, has vehemently denied the accusations, countering that he is the “victim of domestic violence” and vowing to resign if any claim is proven.
The couple, married on 9 December 2021 in a lavish ceremony at a five-star hotel in Agra, shares a young son aged about 18 months to two years. Dr. Singh, who is now living separately with the child in Noida’s Jaypee Wishtown, approached the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Women’s Safety) after alleged failed mediations, leading to the registration of the case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Dr. Singh’s 41-page complaint outlines a pattern of harassment beginning shortly after the wedding. She alleges her family provided gifts, jewelry, and cash totaling Rs 1.4–2 crore, including a Rs 20 lakh cash dowry demanded by the groom’s side. Despite this, she claims ongoing demands for more money, such as Rs 40 lakh for a plot in Kanpur, and pressure on her father to purchase a Rs 19 lakh car for Rajput’s family.
The FIR accuses Rajput of verbal abuse, racial slurs, physical violence, and maintaining illicit relationships. When confronted, he allegedly threatened to abandon her and used his position to intimidate her family, stating, “I am an IPS officer; no one can touch me.” Other family members, including his father, mother, and brother, along with two associates, are also named for alleged involvement in coercion and confiscation of jewelry.
The case invokes BNS sections 85, 115(2), 351(2), 352, 3(5), and 316(2), along with sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, as confirmed by police statements.
Rajput has strongly refuted all allegations, portraying himself as the aggrieved party. He claimed to have suffered “continuous domestic violence and harassment” from Dr. Singh and her family, including an incident on 14 September 2024, and asserted he has video evidence and recordings from family mediations.
He filed a counter-FIR in Bengaluru on 13 June 2025 against Dr. Singh and others, citing harassment and criminal intimidation. Rajput emphasized his desire for a mutual divorce and co-parenting, claiming mediation at Noida’s DCP office failed and he has been denied access to their son.
The matter remains under active investigation, with police set to record statements from all accused parties. No arrests have been reported yet, and further actions will depend on probe findings.
In a related case, Dr. Mahendra Reddy, a general surgeon in Bengaluru, has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife, Dr. Kruthika M Reddy, a dermatologist, by administering the anaesthetic drug Propofol. Dr. Mahendra became upset after he discovered his wife had pre-existing health issues which, he claimed, were undisclosed before marriage. Her also family alleges Dr. Mahendra demanded financial help from his in-laws to set up a hospital in Bengaluru and they refused.
Dr. Kruthika collapsed at her father’s residence in Marathahalli on 23 April 2025. While initially declared a natural death, a complaint by her sister led to forensic investigations. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report confirmed Propofol in multiple organs, and Dr. Mahendra was charged with murder under Section 103 of the BNS, 2023.
(Rh/Eth/VK/MSM)
