Silicon Valley CEO Abhishek Gattani gets away with domestic abuse against wife, Neha Rastogi

For 10 years, Neha Rastogi, the wife of Abhishek Gattani, CEO of a Silicon Valley start-up,  suffered horrific physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband. 
Neha, a dedicated and celebrated employee at Apple, was brilliant at her job. She worked on everything from Siri to FaceTime to Maps and sometimes even seated beside Steve Jobs himself. Little did she know, that some day she would be compelled to use her iPhone to record harrowing moments of what was literally a nightmare.  

The video that Neha made on the 17th of May 2016, of 5 minutes and 58 seconds of her life with Gattani has no dramatic or shocking images. Visually, this footage is so uneventful one might think that somebody had mistakenly left their phone in video-record mode in their pocket. However, that was what was so chilling were the repeated battering sounds in the presence of their little daughter. 

As the video starts, the two have been discussing a website that had been garnering numerous clicks but now was getting only a few. Rastogi seems to have suggested that the problem is a software bug. Gattani presses her as a teacher might to define a bug in computer terms. But what he really seems to be seeking to teach her is submission. Throughout the conversation his tone is controlled and at intervals, noises of Gattani beating his wife are heard. “You don’t want to get beaten up?” he asks. “Then control yourself.” He appears also to be telling her to rein in the very fear and hurt he is instilling in her; she better not cry or he will give her all the more reason to do so and that whatever is happening to Neha was brought on by herself. 

Following these events, Neha took the recordings and several photos of her injuries to the  police and Gattani was then arrested with a domestic violence charge. He was previously charged with felony assault in 2013 after a postal worker saw him beating his wife on the street. The charge was reduced at Rastogi's request. This was the second time. 

38-year-old Gattani was arrested and ended up pleading no contest and to Neha's dismay, the top charge against Abhishek was reduced from felony assault to felony accessory, with an accompanying misdemeanor of “offensive touching.”

Based on the statements provided by Neha and the photographic evidence, Abhishek was under arrest for domestic violence. He was placed in handcuffs which were double locked and checked for proper fit and was then transported to [Sunnyvale Police] HQ for booking without further incident. While at [Sunnyvale Police] HQ, Abhishek invoked his right to speak to an attorney.

Later, Rastogi figured that her husband would be held at least through the long Fourth of July weekend, but  she was soon shocked to learn he had been freed without bail. The understanding further implied that Gattani will serve 30 days  in custody, and five months on the weekend work program, with no early termination of probation. He would have to do three years on probation. But if he’s done everything he’s supposed to do in accordance with the probationary custom, if they recommend a misdemeanor part way through there will be no objection.

Neha, who is presently separated and in the process of a divorce  from Gattani, made her feelings loud and clear in a four-page victim impact statement that she read aloud in court earlier. She declared herself doubly victimized by her husband and by the criminal justice system. She wondered aloud how someone arrested for a crime could be charged with being accessory, without being charged with the crime itself, even though he was the only possible perpetrator. 

In her statement, she said, “I feel fooled not just by a convicted criminal, aggressor, wife beater, batterer, that I unfortunately married - the worst mistake of my life but by this court as well. With all due respect to the system... I stand FOOLED, disgraced and ridiculed as a victim. I wanted to speak up at the last hearing as well, but I was told today is the right time to do so. Honestly I am not sure why is it so, as it seems it’s all done... what’s the point of me speaking up now? I get heard to be ignored? to be told that the system understands the abuse and the impact it has had on our child and me but sorry it is what it is. I was told no jail, no classes, no penalties can change Mr. Gattani. Is this the faith the DA’s office and the court have in the justice being provided in this court? Is that the reason for leniency in such cases? Have we given up on justice?”

Judge Allison Marston Danner, who is handling the case, wasn't present for Gattani's sentencing last week and the fill in judge postponed the sentencing after hearing Rastogi's statement.  

Neha is scheduled to be present in court next month and till then, awaits for justice, holding hope close to her heart.