Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Sep 27: In sad incident, Apoorva (13), a seventh standard student and resident of Nodu Lane in Bejai died of asphyxiation on Sunday September 25 after the rope of a swing she was playing with tightened around her neck. Family sources have clarified that her death was accidental, and that she had not committed suicide as reported in sections of the media.

They added that Apoorva was an autistic child but was brilliant at studies although her normal skills were not much developed. The family had admitted her to Shraddhanananda Saraswati School in Padua here to ensure that she got personal attention at school, it is learnt. Her parents looked after her with lots of affection, care, and attention, helping her to pass every examination in first class.

On Sunday, Apoorva's mother had gone out to fetch Gulab Jamoon mix, as Apoorva had expressed her desire to eat the dish. At the time, the girl was watching television. Sources said that Apoorva, who was later seated on a swing, breathed her last after the rope of the swing got tightened around her neck, asphyxiating her in the bargain. Her mother, seeing the condition of her daughter rushed her to a hospital, but it was too late. Fate took away the life of this young girl within a matter of 15 minutes when no one else was around.

It is learnt that the girl used to play in the swing by swirling around. “On the fateful day, the rope got around her neck, and she could not wriggle out of the noose,” her father, Gopalakrishna Bhat, a teacher at St Aloysius High School, explained. He said usually his daughter accompanied him wherever he went, but she opted to stay at home on Sunday, saying that she had to study for the next day’s English examination. The parents are hurt at the fact that media projected this as a case of suicide and that the girl suffered from depression.

Urwa police sub-inspector, Ramesh, said that a complaint filed by a person named Ravindra on behalf of the girl’s parents, who were in utter grief, had stated that the girl had hanged herself, and that she was suffering from depression. He said that revised statements have since been obtained from the parents.