SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Diya TV) — A Silicon Valley chief executive entered into a plea deal stemming from what was his second domestic violence charge, this despite the fact his victim submitted audio recordings of her husband verbally and physically abusing her.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Cuberon co-founder Abhishek Gattani’s felony assault charge will be reduced to felony accessory after the fact, with an accompanying misdemeanor of “offensive touching,” according to a report from the Daily Beast. He will likely spend less than 30 days in jail and could “and could have the felony expunged from his record,” the report said.
A screen capture of the old Cubero site that has now been taken down
In several of the secret recordings, Gattani can be heard attacking the victim, his wife Neha Rastogi, beginning with verbal abuse. His wife works as an engineer, and has racked up experience at companies such as Apple, Flip Video and Cisco Systems.
“No, no, no,” Gattani can be heard saying in one of the recordings, when he and Rastogi were discussing software bugs. “When did I say that’s a bug? We talked about bugs right? Is it getting very difficult for you to focus? You really do need help. You need me to take another step and come to you. You need help?”
“You don’t want to get beaten up?” he continued. “Then control yourself.”
Rastogi brought the recordings to authorities, who arrested Gattani on what was his second charge of domestic violence. He had previously been charged with similar allegations, felony assault in Nov. 2013 after a postal worker reported a woman being assaulted on the street. According to the report, officer’s accounts included witness testimony of Gattani “pushing and pulling [Rastogi] along the sidewalk while punching her with a closed fist in the side and back multiple times.”
That felony charge was ultimately reduced to a misdemeanor charge at Rastogi’s urging. Three years later, in May 2016, she recorded audio of her husband’s abuse.
Gattani’s plea was entered at Santa Clara County Superior Court, the same venue where judge Aaron Perksy drew national criticism after sentencing Brock Turner to six months in jail for three charges of felony sexual assault. At what was supposed to be Gattani’s sentencing at the courthouse, Rastogi read aloud from an impact statement relating to the plea.
“‘Misdemeanor—offensive touching’? I didn’t even need to look this one up, as it made me laugh when then I realized that I was laughing at myself, I was the joke here,” she said. “‘Offensive touching!’”
“Please explain me is it offensive touching when a 8-month pregnant woman is beaten and then forced to stand for the entire night by her husband? Is it offensive touching when a mother nursing her six-day old child is slapped on her face by her husband because he thinks she is not latching properly with the child? Is it offensive touching when a women is flung to the floor and repetitively kicked in her belly? Is it offensive touching when a woman is slapped nine times by her husband until she agrees to everything he is saying and then gets hit again for not agreeing with it sooner?” Rastogi continued.
“Offensive touching—I call it terrorism,” she said.
While addressing the court, Judge Rodney Stafford promised he listened “very carefully” to Rastogi’s “powerful statement.” Unfortunately, he was just filling in for fellow Judge Allison Danner.
“So, until today, about 15 minutes ago, I knew nothing about the case,” Stafford said. “So, I don’t know how the negotiations were arrived at. I assume that the matter was negotiated in good faith by both the prosecution and the defense.”
Cuberon’s investors Redpoint and Millways Ventures who have backed the likes of Twilio and Walmart, Stripe, Salesforce and Amazon are now reacting to the news.
