Teen kills self for failing to get enough likes on TikTok

Due to the ongoing lockdown, the youth was mostly at home and was making videos and sharing them across the popular social media platform, Tik Tok.

An 18-year-old man allegedly took his own life on Thursday at his house, which falls under the Sector 39 police jurisdiction. Family members alleged that he was unhappy because he failed to receive enough likes on his social media content. No note was recovered from the spot.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the TikTok app is seen on a mobile phone screen in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2019. Picture taken February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Illustration/File Photo (REUTERS)

According to police officials, the teenager lived with his father. Both of them worked in a private firm in Noida. Due to the ongoing lockdown, the youth was mostly at home and was making videos and sharing them across the popular social media platform, Tik Tok.

“It seems that for the past few days, he had been troubled that there weren’t enough likes on his videos. He had even shared this with his father,” said Shailesh Tomar, station house officer(SHO), sector 39 police station.

He said that police officials got a call on Thursday evening from the father who said that his son had hung himself from a fan in their house.

“A team was rushed to the spot and the body was sent for an autopsy. No suicide note was recovered from the spot and a preliminary investigation revealed the reason of death was most possibly receiving less fewer likes on social media. The father was in no condition to provide any more details,” said the SHO.

Police officials spoke to a few neighbours, who confirmed that the youth had been upset for the past few days and was staying up at night to make videos. The victim’s body was handed over to the father following the autopsy.

“The police team had to break down the door to recover his body. From what the family and neighbours have said it seems that he was depressed because his videos were not getting enough likes for the past few days. That could be why he took such an extreme step even though no suicide note was recovered from the spot. A probe in the matter is underway,” said additional deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Kumar Ranvijay Singh.

The family is from Malda district in Nadia. Police officials suspect that the youth may have been under peer pressure for fame on social media but so far the father has not filed any official complaint against anyone.

Gautam Budh Nagar does not have a dedicated helpline to deal with such situations. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are +914066202000 from ‘Roshni’ (Hyderabad-based) and +914424640050 from Sneha India Foundation (Delhi-based).