HYDERABAD: Frustrated with regular stalking and online harassment, a 14-year-old girl ended her life by hanging herself from the ceiling at her home in Hayathnagar on Monday night.
A student of Class 9 in a government school, the girl was being harassed on social media by a 16-year-old stalker. Her father said she had informed him about the harassment six months ago.
She loved animals and would take her pet dog for daily walks to a nearby park, where she said the boy first harassed her. “We didn’t want to make it a big issue as we felt it might reflect badly on the family,” her father said, adding, “A relative and I met the boy’s parents, and his father assured us he would not trouble her again.”
However, the victim’s father said the accused boy continued to contact his daughter, including calls made through Instagram on April 24. “I took screenshots and sent them to his father, who said he was out of town and would speak to his son after returning. But he never followed up.”
‘Police did not register case’
Subsequently, the girl reportedly told her father that the boy was harassing her under the garb of love — stalking. On May 4, the boy sent a message saying “I love you too” from his Instagram account.
“When I informed his father, he denied it was his son’s account. I went to the Hayathnagar police station and filed a complaint, but the police did not register a case or give us an acknowledgement,” he alleged.
The victim’s father said that he had to leave home the same day due to a relative’s death. “On May 5, the boy came to our house and threatened my daughter. When I returned, she told me about the threat.”
The girl’s mother said her daughter removed her anklets before hanging herself. “She may have thought that her father would wake up and stop her,” she said. The family claims that had the police taken immediate action, the tragedy could have been prevented.
Hayathnagar police registered a case under BNS sections and the POCSO Act, and an investigation is underway.
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