Mumbai student live streams suicide on Facebook before jumping to death from Taj Lands End

A 24-year-old college student committed suicide on Monday evening by jumping from the 19-storey room of Hotel Taj Lands End in Bandra. Minutes before taking his life, the victim identified as Arjun Bharadwaj had streamed a Facebook Live video, which went viral on social media. [caption id=“attachment_3288152” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Bharadwaj, originally from Bengaluru, was a Narsee Monjee college student. Bharadwaj jumped to his death from a hotel room by breaking the window. Mumbai Police have found a suicide note in his hotel room which indicates that Bharadwaj was suffering from drug addiction and wanted to end his life due to the damage his compulsion was causing him. According to The Indian Express, a source who reached the spot moments after the incident claimed that the hotel security was alerted by a back office executive who saw the video on Facebook in which the hotel was tagged. According to The Hindu, the Bandra police have registered an accidental death report and are conducting inquiries. In the Facebook Live video, Bharadwaj wearing a white robe is heard saying that the recording is a “tutorial about how to (commit) suicide." He is seen consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes. The Mumbai Police requested the media not to run the video. “It is disturbing and can have a huge impact on young minds,” Deven Bharti, Joint Commissioner of Police told The Indian Express. The Hindu reported that Bharadwaj was taken to Lilavati Hospital where he died while under treatment. The hotel management had already informed the Bandra police by then. “He had checked into the hotel at 3 pm on Monday. He broke the glass of the hotel room window before jumping. We found nine short notes in his room indicating he was disturbed,” Sanjay Kadam, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Bandra division) told The Hindu. Asian Age reported that the police have informed Bharadwaj’s family and they are on their way to Mumbai. They are also recording the statements of his friends to ascertain if Bharadwaj was under any pressure. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police urged the youngsters to reach out to them in the instance of any such occurrence.

Deeply bereaved with suicide of a young boy in the city. We urge the youngsters to reach out to us #WeAreListening

— मुंबई पोलीस - Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 3, 2017

The social media profile of the youth is being checked by police to ascertain the motives behind the drastic measure.