A 16-year-old queer artist from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain died by suicide after receiving a slew of hate comments on their Instagram.
Pranshu, a 16-year-old queer artist and social media influencer was found dead, reportedly hanging from their mother's dupatta, on Tuesday. According to reports, Pranshu was a self-taught make-up artist and ran an Instagram handle where they shared make-up and beauty content with over 14,500 followers.
During Diwali, the artist posted a reel of wearing a saree, following which many people made hateful and homophobic remarks about the reel.
Following the death of Pranshu, actor-activist Trineta Haldar Gummaraju claimed that the artist's comment section was flooded with over 4,000 homophobic remarks, and this forced them to die by suicide.
"Are we happy now? A child is gone. Just like that. So, so angry. How many more queer children do we lose? There was Arvey Malhotra, today there is Pranshu, and tomorrow there will be more. What is the point of creating content, really, if the kids aren’t safe? Neither online nor offline? What has changed?," the actor wrote in an Instagram post.
Quoting Kamal Singh Gehlot, the police station in charge, India Today reported that the 16-year-old's mobile has been seized and details will be obtained from Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook.
Police have also added that they haven't yet identified the solid basis behind the suicide.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7).