13-year-old dies trying out a stunt

Call it failure of media censorship or irresponsible parenting, but young Karthik paid for it through his life. Karthik who was studying in 7th standard in Udupi was found hanging from the fan hook in his home on 5th May. His parents were away at the time, leaving him home alone to prepare for a badminton match at Manipal on 6th May. But Karthik had different ideas.

According to his father Umesh Shiroor, Karthik had stored videos of a stunt he had seen in a reality TV show. He added that Karthik died trying out the dangerous stunt. The police however have registered a case of suicide.

Speaking to DNA Shiroor said, “Though young, my son was very strong in mind and had no problems that could have driven him to take such a drastic step. He had scored 94.4 per cent in his last exams and was a badminton player. But I never knew that this stupid reality show had been on his mind,” he said.

Shoba who is still inconsolable says, “I should have never left him alone, since Karthik was very responsible and mature, it never crossed my mind, that the TV show had influenced his mind”

Umesh had gone over to Jabalpur on official duty while his mother had gone to the town of Shiroor for a religious function. Karthik was supposed to join his mother the next day but it was not to be. Umesh said his son was never a mischievous boy but he was very inquisitive. “He was alone on the day at home and god knows what drove him to enact that stupid show in his own room.”

A clipping that had been stored on the home PC by Karthik, shows a stuntman hanging him high in the air. The stuntman’s weight is balanced minutely by a counter weight suspended by a rope. Shiroor feels that this is exactly how Karthik wanted his adventure to be. He had twisted a saree of his mother’s and passed it thorough two hooks on the roof. At one end, he tied the saree to this neck and on the other was a counter-weight, a chair. Umesh breaks down at that point and asks this cannot be construed as suicide.

This particular stunt was shown on the Roadies aired by MTV in one of its episodes, which had been recorded by Karthik, and he allegedly tried it out when he was alone at home.

Umesh’s neighbours however felt that Karthik’s parents often left him alone and the boy was living alone in his house on many occasions. His parents have allowed him to watch all the silly stuff without parental guidance which was even more dangerous, they say.