Twin student suicides in Mumbai

Boy, who excelled in sport, hangs himself

Just a day before his school was to shut for Diwali, a Class X student allegedly hanged himself to death at his home in Borivli (W) on Thursday.

The police said the parents of Anzhil Albero Crasto, 15, found him hanging by a nylon rope from a ceiling fan at their flat in Cacilda Apartments in IC Colony, Borivli (W), after returning from work in the evening.

The suicide took the family and schoolteachers by surprise, who claim that although the student of Don Bosco School, also in Borivli (W), was academically weak, he didn’t display any sign of depression. The confusion over the trigger for such a drastic step was compounded by the absence of a suicide note.

In his statement to the police, father Albero Crasto said his daughter, older to Anzhil, had stepped out for some work on Thursday evening when the 15-year-old committed suicide.

Crasto, who is in the merchant navy, told DNA that the family never pressured Anzhil to improve his scores.

“He was good in sports and loved athletics. He was an average student. He had some difficulties with mathematics and science, but we never pressured him when it came to studies,’’ he said.

A neighbour agreed, saying Anzhil’s mother, a teacher at a Byculla school, only encouraged him to improve his academic performance.

Crasto suspected that the need to do better in his studies got to him. Some of Anzhil’s relatives raised the suspicion of it being an accidental death, saying the boy possibly never intended to go through with the suicide but lost his balance, thereby tightening the rope around his neck.

Puja Kadam, Anzhil’s class teacher, said he was an easy-going and popular student. “He was elected the class monitor last year. He loved athletics, and participated in sprints and relay matches. He was focussed on games.”

Father William Falcoa, director of the Don Bosco Educational Centre, said although the boy was weak in mathematics and science, he never failed in those subjects. “He was passionate about athletics, but he wasn’t able to pursue it this year since his parents didn’t want him to play sports in the year he was to write his board examinations.”

An empathetic school principal, Father George Carlos, said Anzhil’s mother has been recalling recent conversations with him again and again, hoping to stumble upon the motive behind the suicide. “She has been trying to remember if she had said something hurtful to him.”

Another teacher said the school frequently conducts stress control and management courses for students and the 15-year-old was never found to be facing any problem.

17-year-old, good in academics, ends life

A couple of hours before a 15-year-old ended his life in Borivli (W), a college student, 17, committed suicide on Thursday afternoon at his home in Andheri (W).

His family claimed to be in the dark over the reason for the suicide, saying the boy mostly kept to himself and excelled in his academics. No suicide note was found.

Raj Ramchandra Jangle, a first-year commerce student at the Children Welfare Centre Junior College in Versova who lived in Harishwar Building near Ram Mandir in Versova village, Andheri (W), with his parents and 12-year-old sister, was set to sit a semester examination in organisational commerce on Thursday afternoon, said his cousin, Nashiket. “In the morning, his father went to office while Richa headed off to school. A little later, his mother stepped out to buy groceries. With just his grandmother left in the house, Raj hanged himself from a ceiling fan around noon.”

Nashiket said when Raj’s mother returned home, she found his bedroom locked from the inside.

Thinking that he was busy with last-minute preparations for his examination, she didn’t suspect that anything was amiss. “Around 1pm, when she knocked on the door to inform him that he should get ready to go for his examination and got no response, she began to worry,” added Nashiket.

She then called her bother, who lives nearby. After they broke open the door, they found Raj hanging from the ceiling. The student was rushed to the Kokilaben Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The Versova police have registered a case of accidental death. “The reason is not clear why he committed suicide. But during the investigation, we did not find any instance of foul play. We are investigating the case from all possible angles,” said Sharad Borse, senior inspector of the Versova police station.

College principal Ajay Kaul said Raj had joined the college three months ago and there had been no complaints about his behaviour. “He was a well-behaved student. He scored well in his studies as well. We never expected that he would take such an extreme step.”

Arguing that “teenagers these days are easily provoked”, he said the college has been conducting regular counselling sessions for students.