554 men killed, died by suicide in 6 months over adultery, marital disputes: Report
A Gurugram-based NGO said it documented 554 husband murders and suicides across India in the first half of 2026. It said the absence of official classifications and support systems leaves male victims largely invisible.
A Gurugram-based NGO, Ekam Nyaay Foundation, has released a documentation report claiming that it recorded 554 cases of husband murders and suicides across India during the first six months of 2026, based on incidents reported in the media and documented by the Foundation until July 14.
According to the report, the Foundation documented 322 murders of husbands allegedly committed by their wives or their wives' lovers and 232 suicides by husbands linked to marital disputes, domestic abuse, harassment, false criminal cases and other relationship-related issues.
The Foundation said the documented cases suggest that nearly two husbands were murdered and more than one husband died by suicide every day in India during the first six months of 2026. It clarified that the figures are based only on media reports it documented and not on official government data. It added that many incidents do not receive media coverage and that India has no official national database tracking husband murders or male victims of domestic abuse, meaning the actual number of such cases could be substantially higher.
The report identified adultery as the leading cause behind husband murders, accounting for 194 of the 322 documented cases, or about 60.2%. According to the Foundation, many of these cases involved allegations that wives conspired with their lovers to kill their husbands after the latter objected to the extramarital relationship or became an obstacle to it.
The Foundation said the documented murder cases involved methods including poisoning, burning alive, electrocution, strangulation, dismemberment, burial of bodies and staging murders as accidents or suicides.
Apart from adultery, the report linked 88 murder cases, or 27.3%, to domestic disputes. It said other documented motives included monetary disputes, family conspiracies and killings involving the partner's family or lover.
The report also documented 232 suicides by husbands. It identified prolonged domestic disputes as the leading cause, accounting for 104 cases, or 44.83%. Another 57 cases, or 24.57%, involved allegations of harassment by wives or in-laws, while 29 cases, or 12.5%, were linked to extramarital relationships. The remaining cases involved false criminal accusations, harassment by girlfriends or their families and other factors.
According to the report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of documented husband murders at 93 and husband suicides at 103 during the reporting period. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka and Gujarat also featured among the states with high numbers of documented cases.
The Foundation highlighted 25 of the most gruesome cases documented this year. It said these included incidents in which husbands were allegedly beheaded, chopped into pieces, poisoned, buried beneath house floors, burned alive, pushed into deep gorges or murdered in conspiracies involving wives and their alleged lovers. It added that several suicide cases involved victims leaving behind detailed suicide notes or recorded videos alleging prolonged harassment, domestic abuse, false criminal cases, denial of access to their children or sustained mental cruelty.
Speaking on the report, Ekam Nyaay Foundation founder Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj said every documented case represented a life lost and a family devastated. Referring to the murder of Ketan Aggarwal, allegedly by his fiance Siya Goyal, and her alleged lover Chetan, she said the case drew national attention, but similar incidents were documented almost daily.
She further said the absence of a separate classification for husband murders and male victims of domestic violence in official crime data makes it difficult to assess the true scale of the problem.
A Gurugram-based NGO, Ekam Nyaay Foundation, has released a documentation report claiming that it recorded 554 cases of husband murders and suicides across India during the first six months of 2026, based on incidents reported in the media and documented by the Foundation until July 14.
According to the report, the Foundation documented 322 murders of husbands allegedly committed by their wives or their wives' lovers and 232 suicides by husbands linked to marital disputes, domestic abuse, harassment, false criminal cases and other relationship-related issues.
The Foundation said the documented cases suggest that nearly two husbands were murdered and more than one husband died by suicide every day in India during the first six months of 2026. It clarified that the figures are based only on media reports it documented and not on official government data. It added that many incidents do not receive media coverage and that India has no official national database tracking husband murders or male victims of domestic abuse, meaning the actual number of such cases could be substantially higher.
The report identified adultery as the leading cause behind husband murders, accounting for 194 of the 322 documented cases, or about 60.2%. According to the Foundation, many of these cases involved allegations that wives conspired with their lovers to kill their husbands after the latter objected to the extramarital relationship or became an obstacle to it.
The Foundation said the documented murder cases involved methods including poisoning, burning alive, electrocution, strangulation, dismemberment, burial of bodies and staging murders as accidents or suicides.
Apart from adultery, the report linked 88 murder cases, or 27.3%, to domestic disputes. It said other documented motives included monetary disputes, family conspiracies and killings involving the partner's family or lover.
The report also documented 232 suicides by husbands. It identified prolonged domestic disputes as the leading cause, accounting for 104 cases, or 44.83%. Another 57 cases, or 24.57%, involved allegations of harassment by wives or in-laws, while 29 cases, or 12.5%, were linked to extramarital relationships. The remaining cases involved false criminal accusations, harassment by girlfriends or their families and other factors.
According to the report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of documented husband murders at 93 and husband suicides at 103 during the reporting period. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka and Gujarat also featured among the states with high numbers of documented cases.
The Foundation highlighted 25 of the most gruesome cases documented this year. It said these included incidents in which husbands were allegedly beheaded, chopped into pieces, poisoned, buried beneath house floors, burned alive, pushed into deep gorges or murdered in conspiracies involving wives and their alleged lovers. It added that several suicide cases involved victims leaving behind detailed suicide notes or recorded videos alleging prolonged harassment, domestic abuse, false criminal cases, denial of access to their children or sustained mental cruelty.
Speaking on the report, Ekam Nyaay Foundation founder Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj said every documented case represented a life lost and a family devastated. Referring to the murder of Ketan Aggarwal, allegedly by his fiance Siya Goyal, and her alleged lover Chetan, she said the case drew national attention, but similar incidents were documented almost daily.
She further said the absence of a separate classification for husband murders and male victims of domestic violence in official crime data makes it difficult to assess the true scale of the problem.
A Gurugram-based NGO, Ekam Nyaay Foundation, has released a documentation report claiming that it recorded 554 cases of husband murders and suicides across India during the first six months of 2026, based on incidents reported in the media and documented by the Foundation until July 14.
According to the report, the Foundation documented 322 murders of husbands allegedly committed by their wives or their wives' lovers and 232 suicides by husbands linked to marital disputes, domestic abuse, harassment, false criminal cases and other relationship-related issues.
The Foundation said the documented cases suggest that nearly two husbands were murdered and more than one husband died by suicide every day in India during the first six months of 2026. It clarified that the figures are based only on media reports it documented and not on official government data. It added that many incidents do not receive media coverage and that India has no official national database tracking husband murders or male victims of domestic abuse, meaning the actual number of such cases could be substantially higher.
The report identified adultery as the leading cause behind husband murders, accounting for 194 of the 322 documented cases, or about 60.2%. According to the Foundation, many of these cases involved allegations that wives conspired with their lovers to kill their husbands after the latter objected to the extramarital relationship or became an obstacle to it.
The Foundation said the documented murder cases involved methods including poisoning, burning alive, electrocution, strangulation, dismemberment, burial of bodies and staging murders as accidents or suicides.
Apart from adultery, the report linked 88 murder cases, or 27.3%, to domestic disputes. It said other documented motives included monetary disputes, family conspiracies and killings involving the partner's family or lover.
The report also documented 232 suicides by husbands. It identified prolonged domestic disputes as the leading cause, accounting for 104 cases, or 44.83%. Another 57 cases, or 24.57%, involved allegations of harassment by wives or in-laws, while 29 cases, or 12.5%, were linked to extramarital relationships. The remaining cases involved false criminal accusations, harassment by girlfriends or their families and other factors.
According to the report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of documented husband murders at 93 and husband suicides at 103 during the reporting period. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka and Gujarat also featured among the states with high numbers of documented cases.
The Foundation highlighted 25 of the most gruesome cases documented this year. It said these included incidents in which husbands were allegedly beheaded, chopped into pieces, poisoned, buried beneath house floors, burned alive, pushed into deep gorges or murdered in conspiracies involving wives and their alleged lovers. It added that several suicide cases involved victims leaving behind detailed suicide notes or recorded videos alleging prolonged harassment, domestic abuse, false criminal cases, denial of access to their children or sustained mental cruelty.
Speaking on the report, Ekam Nyaay Foundation founder Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj said every documented case represented a life lost and a family devastated. Referring to the murder of Ketan Aggarwal, allegedly by his fiance Siya Goyal, and her alleged lover Chetan, she said the case drew national attention, but similar incidents were documented almost daily.
She further said the absence of a separate classification for husband murders and male victims of domestic violence in official crime data makes it difficult to assess the true scale of the problem.
