16-year-old kills self in Odisha after denied cellphone

BALASORE:  A 16-year-old boy allegedly died by suicide on Saturday after his parents refused to buy him a smartphone. The deceased, a student of Class X, was a resident of Vatapada Colony in Kuruda village under Soro police limits. 

Sources said, the boy had been repeatedly asking his father Susanta Hota for a smartphone but was being refused on the grounds that it would affect his studies. After his insistence again on Friday night met with the same fate, the boy, in a fit of rage, hung himself from a tree in the wee hours of the day when his family was asleep. 

Villagers spotted the boy the next morning and informed the parents. Soro police rushed to the spot and sent the body for post mortem along with registering a case in the matter. 

(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)