Teenager hangs himself on birthday, puts suicide note as WhatsApp status

Apparently upset over his parents’ separation, a 14-year-old boy allegedly hanged himself on his birthday at his maternal aunt’s residence in northwest Delhi, police said on Wednesday.

The deceased, identified as Swamim, was a class IX student at a private school in Ghaziabad. His parents separated around nine years ago and Swamim, along with his elder brother, lived at their maternal grandparents’ house in Welcome area, said a senior police official.

According to police, the incident was reported around 1 AM on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday – around an hour after Swamim turned 14. He had come to his maternal aunt’s house in Welcome area to celebrate his birthday.

Swamim slept around 12 AM after his cousins wished him on his birthday. Later, when one of his cousin’s woke up to drink water, he saw Swamim hanging from the ceiling fan. The boy woke his parents up, who rushed Swamim to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The matter was then reported to police.

During investigation, it emerged that Swamim had written a status message for his Whatsapp account, wherein he mentioned that his friends were a great part of his life but he did not want to live in a world which was more obsessed with money than humans, said a police official.

It is suspected that Swamim was depressed over his parents’ separation. While his mother is based at Dubai, his father lives in Delhi and owns a photo studio. Swamim and his elder brother lived together with their maternal grandparents and went to the same school, said the official.

Police have impounded Swamin’s laptop and mobile phone for analysis. They are also questioning his friends to ascertain what forced Shamim take the extreme step. The body was sent for postmortem examination today, the official added.

PTI