LUCKNOW A day after a fatal triple shooting claimed the lives of ICICI Bank relationship manager Divya Mishra and her sister-in-law Sheeba Bajpai, allegedly at the hands of Mishra’s husband Manas Bajpai —who then died by suicide — contrasting accounts have emerged over the couple’s troubled marriage and the events leading up to the tragedy.
Documents of the family dispute accessed by HT from the family court have emerged as a saga of a troubled marriage, with allegations and counter-allegations made by Divya Mishra and her husband Manas Bajpai months before their deaths. Manas, however, alleged that Divya left the matrimonial home after a quarrel with him and his family, taking her ‘stridhan’, jewellery and other valuables. He also alleged that she spent hours talking to unfamiliar men on the phone and threatened to implicate him in false cases when he objected. They claimed his behaviour eventually led Divya to seek separation. On the other hand, Manas’s family rejected the allegations. “He was not psychotic. The family court proceedings continued amid these claims.
The court document stated the couple met through a matrimonial website and tied the knot on February 13, 2017. Court records also showed that Divya filed for divorce on January 3, 2026, alleging physical and mental cruelty, dowry-related harassment, repeated abuse and threats to her life. Manas, in turn, approached the court on March 13 under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, seeking restitution of conjugal rights and alleging that Divya had deserted him without sufficient reason. She said in her arguments in court that she feared for her life and had been living separately since November 24, 2025. But according to her arguments submitted in court, she claimed that she had been thrown out of the matrimonial home in 2021, but returned after relatives intervened and Manas assured her that the alleged abuse would stop. Manas denied causing her hardship, alleging that Divya’s behaviour changed in 2021 and that she stopped taking interest in household work and repeatedly went to her parental home without informing the family. The last hearing was held on August 18, 2026, while the next hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2026, according to records accessed by HT.
Divya’s cousin Mayank Dixit said she had an arranged marriage with Manas. Divya claimed that years of alleged harassment and violence had made it impossible for her to continue living with Manas, according to legal documents. Family members alleged that about two years into the marriage, Divya and her family came to know of Manas’s “psychotic behaviour”. His maternal uncle Awadhesh Shukla described the claims as baseless and said Manas was a “very sensible” person. If he was, how could he work in a government bank as he cleared an examination to fetch such a reputed job,” he said. He said he made attempts to bring Divya back, but alleged that she and her family refused.
