Two families in Bengaluru have been left distraught after a teen and her male friend killed themselves one after the other on Wednesday, and the first suicide was the fallout of her pet dying. Gamini, 19 years old, was so attached to her dog that she committed suicide after he died.
Contrary to media reports which suggested that the girl committed suicide because she was harassed by the boy, the police said that the youth was said to be upset over Gamini’s death.
Distraught over her dog’s death, Gamini hanged herself from the ceiling of her house in Ashwath Nagar, located near Magadi Road, on Wednesday.
A few hours after Gamini’s male friend paid his respects at the funeral, he too ended his life by jumping in front of a train near Binny Mills area.
The girl’s mother has given her statement to the police and claims that her daughter was depressed ever since her Pomeranian, Jimmy, died in July.
Gamini was the only child of Chikkaswamy and M Vijayalakshmi and was in her second year of her undergraduate degree in B.Com at RPA College, Rajajinagar.
Her mother Vijayalakshmi is a teacher at government primary school in Indiranagar and her father Chikkaswamy works as a driver with the BBMP office.
According to a report by the Times of India, Vijayalakshmi’s statement said that Jimmy died of an illness in July this year.
According to her mother’s statement lodged at KP Agrahara Police Station, Gamini had changed a lot after Jimmy’s death and her parents had also got a new dog home and named him Jimmy as well.
However, she could not come out of depression and allegedly took the extreme step.
As news of Gamini’s death spread in the neighbourhood, her friend P Mallesh, a 23-year-old who worked for a private company, arrived at Gamini’s house by 9pm. Mallesh and Gamini were neighbours and had known her for five years.
By the time Mallesh arrived, the police had already shifted Gamini’s body to Victoria Hospital for an autopsy. Mallesh then went to Victoria Hospital. He took an hour reach the morgue as he did not know where to find the body. He requested the police to show him Gamini’s body and the police obliged.
Mallesh rode straight to Binny Mills, left the ignition keys in the bike itself after parking it, and walked towards the railway line. He then committed suicide by jumping before a train around 11pm.
The police have not found any suicide note and police suspect that he was upset over Gamini’s death.
Puttaiah, Mallesh's father, in his statement to the police said that he was clueless as to why his son had taken such an extreme step.
Puttaiah, a daily wage worker, said that Mallesh returned home around 6pm, changed his cloths and left in a hurry, saying he needed to meet someone.
That was the last Puttaiah saw Mallesh. At around 11.30 pm, he received a call from the police who informed him of his son’s death.