Adding to the trend of using mobile before committing suicide, he SMSes three of his friends bidding them goodbye.
A 21-year-old college student committed suicide in his Bhandup home on Thursday after sending an SMS to three of his friends informing them about the extreme step he was going to take.
Prathmesh Golatkar was a resident of SL Sutari chawl of Shivi Krupa Nagar at Bhandup (East). He had failed in two subjects in the HSC examination held in October this year.
Prathmesh was found hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom by his parents around 6am. They informed the police, who rushed him to Rajawadi Hospital. He was declared dead before admission.
VN Tungare, senior police inspector of Kanjurmarg police station, said that the police have registered a case of accidental death. According to the police, when Vikek Golatkar, father of deceased, asked his son about the results on Wednesday, Prathmesh told him that he would get them on Thursday. The parents came to know about his failure only after the incident.
In his SMS, Prathmesh clearly stated that he was committing suicide because he failed in the examination. He also stated that no one should be held responsible for his death. His friends noticed the SMS around 8am, informed the police officer.
In recent times, the city has seen an increasing number of suicides in which the person used a mobile phone either to communicate or to record statements before committing the act.
Psychiatrist Harish Shetty feels that this may soon become a trend because wide publicity is given to such cases. “The media should refrain from giving publicity to such cases; they should rather be ignored,” said Shetty.
On questioned whether such communication or recording of statement by the person before committing suicide can be considered as legal evidence, lawyer Amol Patankar said, “The various judgments by the Apex Court and Bombay high court have stated that only when a person instigates another person to commit suicide, Section 306 (abetment to commit suicide) can be applied.”
Another lawyer, Kunjumon Oommen, said, “In the Pratiksha Nagar suicide case, the suicide note/conversation recorded in the electronic gadget can be treated as a suicide note-cum-dying declaration u/s 32 of Indian Evidence Act.”
A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The police register such cases under Section 306 (Abetment to commit suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. Then we send the mobile phone to the forensic laboratory for tests.”
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