Mumbai: 14-year-old boy ends life after ‘feeling rejected by female friend’

The Class 10 student stayed with his parents and sister in a housing society and the incident took place around 9.44 pm, the police said. They found the boy’s diary, a cold drink, two soda bottles and his slippers on the spot. Police sources said the boy had chatted with a female friend who told him that they were just friends and that triggered the alleged suicide.

The boy scribbled some notes in English in the diary found on the spot, they said. He sent one message each to the family group and his friends’ group (on WhatsApp). He called a male friend but cut the call in a second before taking the extreme step, said the police who sent the body for a postmortem to the Cooper Hospital.

The police registered a case of accidental death after the boy’s father, 49, had said that he had no complaint against any person.

After the death, medical experts and cyber psychologists said awareness on mental health issues is a must in every school. Dr Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist who has actively worked for suicide prevention in many colleges across decades, said: “The boy must be having other issues also; we do not know. A psychological autopsy of the suicide is needed. All schools need to screen their children for mental health issues. A mental health programme needs to be included in all schools. Mental health camps are needed regularly for children which would be for early identification, awareness, education and for fun activities to improve their wellness. There needs to be a people’s movement for suicide just like the Swachh Bharat campaign.”

Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia said: “There is a need for having regular cyber awareness in schools on cyber etiquettes. For example, in chats, we do not know what the other person’s intent is or what they are feeling when she or he is speaking with us.”

“More and more youth prefer chatting over personal meetings so we must educate them on cyber etiquette to communicate and understand texts better. Also, parents will have to know about social media. There is too much pressure on children to study and now with the advent of social media there is also pressure to look good, be popular and accepted by their peers on social media,” Bhatia said.

“We need to understand the challenges the youth face today in both the offline and online world. Parents need to be vigilant and involved but not interfere in their lives,” she added.

Speaking about the particular case, Bhatia said: “It is difficult to say what has triggered the teen. Suicide amongst children and teens is usually an act of impulse associated with sadness, hopelessness, anger, pressure, stress or any mental health conditions. There will be a background in this case too. There would be some other reasons along with rejection. A child in distress will show multiple signs through his behaviour, body language, and eating habits and parents need to keep an eye on these things. Most of the time before taking an extreme step the person does reach out for help.”

“In general, the role of peers’ opinions and acceptance is extremely important. Some children are sensitive, some are bullies. I have noticed a growing cancel culture among teenagers on social media where they target other teens or peers,” added Bhatia.