Shimjitha Mustafa, the woman from Kerala accused of abetting the suicide of a young man through a viral video, was arrested on January 21, 2026. The 35-year-old woman from Vadakara is accused of suicide of 42-year-old U Deepak from Govindapuram, as he killed himself after she accused him of inappropriately touching her in a crowded bus.
Police from the Kozhikode Medical College station took her into custody from a relative’s house in Vadakara, where she had been hiding after the registration of a case against her. The arrest came after a multi-day manhunt, during which authorities issued a lookout notice to prevent her from fleeing the country amid fears she might escape abroad.
After a medical examination, Shimjitha Mustafa was presented before the Kundamangalam court, and she has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
The incident started on January 16, when Shimjitha posted a video on Instagram alleging that Deepak had molested her by inappropriately touching her during a crowded bus journey on a private vehicle from Ramanthali to Payyannur in Kannur district. The clip quickly went viral, amassing over two million views and triggering widespread online backlash and trolling directed at Deepak. His family insists any physical contact was unintentional due to the bus’s overcrowding and erratic driving, common in Kerala’s public transport, and that there was no deliberate misconduct.
Deeply distressed by the public shaming and mental anguish, Deepak took his life by hanging at his residence on January 18, coincidentally his birthday. Amid this, netizens started to allege that Deepak was falsely accused by Shimjitha. According to many, the video initially showed Shimjitha and Deepak standing in the bus with some distance between them. After some time, it appears that the woman moved and turned toward him. As Deepak was holding onto the headrest of a seat to balance himself in the moving bus, his elbow appeared to brush her chest.
Shimjitha claimed that he did it deliberately. She also claimed she started filming him after she saw him similarly touching another woman.
After his death, his family filed a case against her, accusing her of abetting his suicide. Following the complaint, police registered a case against Shimjitha under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (abetment to suicide), a non-bailable offence.
Investigations revealed that the viral video was edited to shorten its duration, and her phone will be checked to retrieve the full video. Police have collected CCTV footage from the bus for analysis. According to the staff of the bus who saw the footage, it didn’t show any kind of sexual misconduct. Bus staff, including the conductor and driver, stated that no complaint was raised at the time, and no incident was reported to them.
Shimjitha had gone into hiding after the case was filed, with her phone switched off and social media accounts locked or deactivated. She had also approached the Kozhikode District Court seeking anticipatory bail, but police acted swiftly before it could be considered.
After her arrest, she was produced before the Kunnamangalam court, which remanded her to 14 days in judicial custody, and she was subsequently shifted to the women’s section of Manjeri jail. The arrest operation was conducted discreetly, with officers using a private vehicle rather than a police van. Visuals showed her being brought in wearing a burqa with her face covered.
