Killing Self Only Option, Said Teen Who Jumped To Death

Mumbai: “Killing ourselves (is) the only option, or (we would have) to live the rest of our lives in eternal suffering,” read the text message sent by the 14-year-old boy who allegedly jumped to death on Friday evening from a 22-storey building in the Vasant Oasis complex located in Marol, Andheri. The deceased was a class 8 student who lived in the USA and came here just for holidays. 

Family had come for vacation

The matter was first reported to the Mumbai police control room at 4.30pm on Friday evening, after which the MIDC Police had reached the spot. The boy was sent to the hospital but he was declared dead before arrival, following which the body was sent for postmortem. Police subsequently conducted panchnama and inquired about the deceased but nobody identified him.

Hours later, the police had summoned the complex’s president and secretary for inquiries while simultaneously scanning footage from the CCTV cameras mounted in the complex and nearby areas.

“The reason why nobody recognised the deceased is because the boy and his family are from the USA, and they visit here occasionally. As it was summer vacation abroad, the family was living here since May end,” said an official from the MIDC police station. Moreover, the body was found in building no 17 whereas the deceased lived in the building behind it, added the cop.

No foul play

As per his last movements, which were captured in CCTV cameras, he entered building no 17 from the back gate, got into an elevator and reached the terrace from where he was seen jumping down. “He was alone all this time hence he was not pushed deliberately,” said the official.

During the probe, it came to fore that his father is in the USA currently while his mother and his sister are in Mumbai. According to his mother’s statement, they did not notice any unusual behaviour in him. However, when the boy’s mobile phone was checked, as part of the investigation, they found a chat box where he was talking to a female friend, who is also based in the USA.

In the chats dating back to the last week of May, Krishna texted the message, mentioned right at the start here, to this friend. “The conversation was a discussion on suicide, depression, etc, but in noway one was abetting other to commit suicide,” said the cop.

As per the postmortem report that came on Saturday morning, the boy suffered injury on skull and ribs due to extreme shock, resulting from the 22nd floor jump. The police as well as the boy’s family don’t suspect any foul play hence the case remains to be an accidental death.

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