By Sonu Tyagi, Founder, Go Spiritual & Approach Entertainment
In the quiet hours before what should have been one of the happiest days of his life—his daughter’s wedding—a prominent Surat builder, Tushar Ghelani, ended his own life. Blackmailed and emotionally crushed by a woman with whom he had an extramarital relationship, he reportedly faced relentless pressure, financial exploitation, and the terror of exposure at the very moment his family was preparing to celebrate. He shot himself with his licensed revolver just days before the ceremony, leaving behind a shattered family, unanswered questions, and yet another stark reminder: sometimes, love—or what masquerades as love—comes at an unbearably high price.
This is not an isolated tragedy. Across India, we are witnessing a disturbing surge in crimes, murders, and suicides rooted in love affairs, extramarital relationships, lust-driven entanglements, and the blackmail that so often follows. Recent NCRB data and police reports paint a grim picture: marriage-related issues, including extramarital affairs, have become a leading trigger for suicides, with men now outnumbering women in such cases in recent years (over 4,800 men versus around 4,100 women in 2023 alone). Illicit relationships and failed love affairs contribute to thousands of deaths annually—7,692 suicides linked to failed romances and hundreds more tied directly to extramarital entanglements. In regions like north Andhra Pradesh, extra-marital affairs and personal rivalries fueled nearly 40-70% of murders in 2025. From wives allegedly orchestrating husbands’ killings with lovers to young people driven to despair by blackmail over intimate videos or morphed images (including horrifying AI-generated ones), the pattern is clear: unchecked desire, deception, and the fear of social ruin are turning relationships into battlegrounds—and too often, graveyards.
What drives this escalation? In an age of instant connectivity, hidden affairs flourish behind screens, but so do the tools of coercion: leaked chats, recorded calls, explicit photos, and now even deepfakes that destroy reputations overnight. Blackmail thrives where shame is weaponized—where the fear of family dishonor, societal judgment, or professional collapse outweighs the pain of living with the secret. Men, in particular, appear increasingly vulnerable as traditional expectations of providing and protecting collide with emotional isolation, financial strain from extortion, and the stigma of admitting vulnerability. Women, too, face lethal consequences when affairs turn violent or when suppressed truths erupt into betrayal-fueled revenge.
But these are not just statistics or sensational headlines—they are human stories of broken trust, suppressed pain, and lost souls crying out in silence. Each suicide leaves families in perpetual grief; each murder erodes the very fabric of compassion in our society. As someone deeply committed to spiritual awareness and mental wellness through Go Spiritual, I see this crisis as a profound spiritual disconnection from our true Self.
When we chase fleeting physical or emotional gratification without authenticity, self-awareness, or respect for boundaries, we invite suffering—not just for ourselves, but for everyone touched by our choices. The ancient wisdom of the Vedas and Upanishads reminds us that real love (prema) is liberating, expansive, and rooted in truth and ahimsa (non-violence). What we are witnessing today is often not love at all, but kama (desire) masquerading as love, twisted by attachment (moha), ego (ahamkara), and fear. When desire becomes obsession and obsession turns into extortion, the soul becomes trapped in a cycle of pain that can only end in destruction—unless interrupted by awareness and courage.
Love, in its truest spiritual form, liberates and heals. Lust disguised as love imprisons and destroys. The path out of this darkness lies in reclaiming our inner light: living in alignment with our higher Self, practicing self-inquiry (atma-vichara), cultivating compassion toward ourselves and others, and having the courage to walk away from toxic bonds rather than letting them fester into violence or despair. Divorce, honest conversations, or seeking help through counseling and spiritual guidance are acts of bravery—not failure. Suppressing truth to preserve appearances only amplifies the eventual explosion.
We must collectively shift the narrative. Families and communities need to foster environments where people can admit mistakes without fear of annihilation. Policymakers should strengthen laws against blackmail and cyber-extortion, while mental health support—especially crisis intervention—becomes as accessible as any other healthcare. At Go Spiritual, our Go Mindful campaign (launching in 2026) and Go Spiritual, Go Human Circles are dedicated to building this resilience: teaching emotional intelligence, empathy, forgiveness, and the spiritual strength to choose healing over harm, truth over deception, and life over lethal despair.
To anyone reading this who feels trapped in a web of secrecy, blackmail, shame, or unbearable inner conflict: you are not your mistake. Your soul is eternal, divine, and worthy of freedom. You are not alone, and your life is infinitely more precious than any secret or any fear. Reach out—to a trusted friend, counselor, helpline, or spiritual guide. Choose life. Choose truth. Choose the light within.
In the memory of Tushar Ghelani and countless others whose souls were lost to this silent epidemic, let us commit to a society where love uplifts rather than extorts, where relationships are rooted in truth rather than lies, and where no one has to pay with their life for a moment of weakness.
Because the soul that awakens remembers: true love never demands a life—it gives life.
Sonu Tyagi : Sonu Tyagi is an award-winning writer, director, and producer with a distinguished background in journalism and advertising. As the visionary founder of Approach Entertainment—a leading celebrity management, films production, advertising & corporate films productions, films marketing, events & entertainment marketing firm—along with Approach Communications (India’s premier PR, Digital and integrated communications agency), Approach Bollywood (a dedicated entertainment news wire), and Go Spiritual (a spiritual organization promoting spirituality, mental wellness, and social impact), he has redefined the landscape of Indian media and entertainment.
Sonu Tyagi Founder, Go Spiritual & Approach Entertainment www.gospiritualindia.org & www.sonutyagi.com
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