Not allowed to watch TV, boy kills self

Not allowed to watch TV, boy kills self
26 May 2008, 0629 hrs IST,TNN

NEW DELHI: Addiction to television, failure to perform in examinations and father's scolding, the normal stuff in a child's life drove a 9-year-old to suicide in Budh Vihar in outer Delhi on Saturday evening.

The victim, Sanjeev Gupta, a resident of Harshved Park had failed in his class IV examinations in a government school where he studied.

According to the police, he suffered from severe myopia. The power of his spectacles in both eyes was -10. "First of all, he had failed in his examinations and then he had such weak eyes. To top it, he was watching TV from a very close distance and his father asked him to study instead. This started the entire argument," said a police official from Sultanpuri police station.

He added that the boy's father, Surinder Gupta, a junk dealer, scolded Sanjeev for performing so badly in his exams and watching TV from a close distance. When the father snatched the remote control from him, Sanjeev took the remote control back and switched on the TV on again. This angered Surinder, who slapped him twice and sent him to his room as a punishment, said a police official. "Sanjeev was so addicted to the TV that he had threatened his parents in the past that if he is not allowed to watch it, he would do something drastic," said a police official.

Later during the day, when Sanjeev's parents had gone out and his 14-year-old sister was taking a bath in the first floor bathroom, he got a rope and hung himself from the staircase railing in the house. His sister discovered his body and alerted her parents who rushed him to nearby Brahmashakti Hospital where he was declared brought dead. His body was later sent to Sanjay Gandhi hospital for a post-mortem.

toireporter@timesgroup.com