The call from an unknown number came on the evening of June 21. Routine enough, thought 35-year-old sales executive Adepu Nikhil — until the voice on the line introduced himself as Sub-Inspector K.Y. Venugopal from the Women Police Station, Cyberabad. There had been tensions at home. His marriage to L. Swathi, 30, a private company employee, was strained. She had moved out months ago. But police involvement? That was a new line being crossed, he felt.
At home in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli, he was raising their three-year-old son, Agastya, alone. The family’s struggles had been quiet and private, so the news of a formal police complaint and being called in for questioning hit him hard.
