‘Cyber-shaming’ drives teenager to suicide; police arrest three

KARACHI:

Cyberbullying is increasingly becoming a social menace and the phenomenon has led to a teenager committing suicide in the city. Police arrested three youths on charges of torturing a teenage boy and spreading the video on social media. The victim’s father said the shame of the incident prompted his son to take his own life.

Abdul Rafi, a class IX student, committed suicide by putting a noose around his neck after experiencing cyber shame.

Sharifabad police initially reported that the cause of suicide was financial and economic problems and non-payment of examination fees by 15-year-old Rafi’s father.

However, Noman Ali, the father of the deceased, in this complaint, informed the police that he discovered that his son’s suicide was actually caused by a video of his son that was released on social media.

Noman Ali told the police that he lives at No. 1 Ruknuddin Square in Sharifabad and works at the Federal Urdu University. On October 22, around 3:30 p.m., when he returned home, he found the wooden door to his apartment locked from the inside.

Despite knocking on the door and calling my son’s name several times, there was no answer. Concerned, Noman informed the owner, who arrived at the scene and helped break down the door. To Noman’s surprise, his son’s body was hanging on the door frame.

A distraught Noman, with the help of neighbors, knocked down Rafi and ran to the hospital with little hope that the boy could survive, but doctors at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital pronounced him dead on arrival (DOA).

The grieving father told the police that he still could not understand why his son took his own life and whether it was due to lack of money and no hope for a better future.

On the third day of his son’s burial, Noman said he saw a video on social media of three young boys torturing his son and recording the video. Noman said that due to torture and disrespect, his son committed suicide by putting a noose around his neck.

He then filed a complaint following which the police registered a case against the three.

The complainant told The Express Tribune that the investigating officer of Sharifabad police station, Naeem, is fully cooperating with him and the law enforcement agencies have arrested the three accused and obtained two days’ remand from the court. Police were questioning all three in connection with the incident.

In response to a question, Noman stated that he had paid the examination fee of his son, who was a ninth-grade student, and the reason behind his son’s suicide was a video of his torture that went viral on social media. He urged higher authorities to ensure justice for him.