15-year-old girl kills self after family takes away mobile phone

A 15-year-old girl died by suicide in Mumbai after a fight with her family over excessive social media use. She had run away from home before jumping off a building.

Mumbai: A 15-year-old girl died by suicide jumping off the terrace of a seven-storey building in Malad on Saturday. Allegedly, she was upset following a fight with her family after they snatched away her mobile phone.

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Police said that the teen, who was a standard nine student, had run away from her home in Malvani on Saturday afternoon after an argument with her family over the amount of time she spends on social media. Around 6pm that day, she jumped off the terrace of a building in Liberty Garden, Malad. Locals called the police on finding her body and she was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

“At that time, we did not know the girl’s identity. So, we circulated the picture amongst residents to get help in finding out her family. They reached out to us on Sunday,” said Ravindra Adane, senior inspector of Malad police. He added that the body was handed over to the family after the post mortem on Sunday afternoon.