Named in MeToo post, 14-yr-old in Gurugram kills himself, say police

The suicide was witnessed by a close friend of the victim in another building, who said he went to check on the teen but did not report the suicide.

A 14-year-old boy in Gurugram committed suicide late on Monday after being accused by a girl of molestation on social media, police said on Tuesday, amid outrage triggered by the discovery of an Instagram group where several schoolboys purportedly discussed sexual violence.

Police said the teen jumped off his family home on the 11th floor of an apartment building, hours after he was named by a girl in a “MeToo” post on Instagram. (Reuters File Photo/Representative Image)

Police said the teen jumped off his family home on the 11th floor of an apartment building, hours after he was named by a girl in a “MeToo” post on Instagram that came on a day when the “Bois Locker Room” group controversy went viral. “No suicide note was found but messages retrieved from the boy’s phone showed that fellow students warned him that he will be questioned by the police ,” said an officer. HT has seen screenshots of the posts made by the girl as well as other students who messaged the boy. The girl posted that she was attacked two years ago and “was tired of keeping it a secret”, before describing the alleged incident in the basement of her apartment complex and naming him.

The suicide was witnessed by a close friend of the victim in another building, who said he went to check on the teen but did not report the suicide. Deepak Kumar, station house officer of sector 53 police station said the guards heard a thud and rushed to the spot. “They found the boy in a pool of blood and informed the family around 11.30 pm. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him dead.” Officers said they will question students, including the girl who posted and those who commented on it.

The police started a suicide inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after parents refused to file a complaint. Deepak Mathur, the forensic expert who conducted the autopsy, said: “There were multiple injuries, including head injury, which caused the death”.