A 12-year-old boy, addicted to Japanese web-series, jumped from 11th floor of an apartment in North Kolkata and committed suicide, police said on Monday.
The incident happened on Saturday. After investigation, police came to know that the boy jumped from the roof of his apartment with a hope that he would be saved by an angel as shown in the web-series ‘Platinum End’.
According to the police the Japanese serial is based on a fictitious story where the teen-hero similarly jumped from the roof of a building but he was saved by an angel and after that the hero developed magical powers.
“After primary we are convinced that the boy was addicted to this serial and inspired by it took this fatal step,” an investigation officer said.
According to the police, the incident happened at a high-end housing complex at Canal Circular Road in Phulbagan area in Park Circus on the day of Swaraswati Puja on Saturday. The 12-year-old boy identified as Biraj Pachisia went to the roof when the other members of the family were busy with the puja. He jumped from the roof and straight dashed on the concrete floor beside the pool.
Hearing the noise, the people of the housing complex rushed to the pool side only to find this student of a premiere school of Park Circus lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to a nearby nursing home where he was declared dead.
“He was recently given an electronic gadget because of his online classes and we have come to know that he was addicted to this serial. Though there is no physical evidence to his suicide but considering the circumstantial evidence we are apparently sure that the boy was so much addicted to this web-series that he though of jumping from the roof,” an investigating officer said.
“This is nothing new. These kinds of serials and web-series create a strong impact on the psychology of the young minds and they often pay for it with life. Previously many such young boys gave their lives after playing games like ‘Blue Whale’ and ‘PUBG’. This is a dangerous trend,” a city-based psychiatrist said.