Youth kills self over failure to take part in TV show

Apparently heartbroken by his failure to participate in a television reality show, a 21-year-old youth hanged himself at a lodge in Hoskote on August 28.

Kiran Yadav left a suicide note, apologising to his mother for his extreme step, but did not explain what drove him to the end. He also left a TikTok video hinting at depression over not taking part in the TV show. The police said Yadav pursued a degree course.

The police said Yadav had booked a room at the SVS Lodge in Hoskote on the night of August 28, after which he had called his mother and told her he was fine and would return home the next morning. Yadav had lost his father a long time ago, the police said.

On August 29 morning, the lodge staff knocked the door at Yadav’s room and found no response. They opened the door with a duplicate key and saw him hanging from the ceiling fan. Besides the suicide note that the lodge staff found, Yadav also posted a 46-second TikTok video, requesting a friend to be his brother and his mother’s son.

The Hoskote police inquired with his friends to learn that Yadav and his friend Manoj attended a reality show — Comedy Khiladigalu — in which he wanted to participate. He took Rs 1 lakh from his family to take part in the show. Yadav and Manoj had been to the show a couple of times but missed the chance to participate. “We need to ask the organisers of the show if Yadav had given them any money,” a senior police official said.