Chennai: 19-year-old commits suicide over homophobia

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, Jul 09, 2019 : A 19-year-old boy committed suicide in Chennai after he was ridiculed for being homosexual. Avinshu Patel, who hailed from Mumbai, put up a social media post about the harassment he had suffered around him, Yahoo reported.

 

Everyone knows I am a boy. But the way I walk, think and talk is like a girl. People in India do not like that, read the Facebook post. Please do not blame my family. Help them. We are poor. I love my mom, dad and sister. I thank them for supporting me. It is not my fault that I was born gay, his Facebook post said.

Avinshu, known as Avi by his friends, uploaded the post on July 2, around 10 pm and switched his phone off. Next day, his body was found on the beach near his resident by the locals.

Avinshu worked at a salon in Chennai. His family have been informed and they have arrived to take his body back.

The Neelankarai police have registered a case of drowning and are probing his death.

According to reports, Avinshu had gone to the mall earlier in the day and sounded happy when he spoke to a friend on phone. However, two hours later he called the same friend and told him he is going to end his life.

He sent me a text around 2.30 afternoon saying he was at a mall with a friend. They had gone out for lunch. Just two hours later he called me and told me he wanted to end his life. He was crying, Avinshu’s friend Ishaan Mastry told New Indian Express.

Avinshu’s friend told the news website said that he told him he had taken poison. "But did not explain the reason for the drastic decision. He just hung up. I tried calling him back, several times, but there was no answer. At around 10 in the night, he put up that Facebook post, after which his phone was switched off."

Ishaan Mastry contacted the staff at his salon, who also tried to get in touch with him, but in vain. Next day when the staff called his mobile phone it was answered by a cop, who informed that he was dead.

Following this, the spa helped his family travel to Chennai to take his body back to Mumbai.

He had been working with the spa for three months. Since he was talented he was given advanced training to become a nail artist. He was not facing any problems at the workplace, police said.

LGBT youth at higher risk for suicide attempts

Studies show that sexual minority youth were more than three times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers.

Researchers report in JAMA Paediatrics pooled data of 35 studies and found that Transgender youth were at highest risk, nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers.

LGBT activists say that despite the Supreme Court decriminalising homosexuality in 2018, members of the community still face discrimination. Speaking to the New Indian Express, C Moulee, founder of Queer Chennai Chronicles, said, Every queer person faces harassment. Section 377 may have been struck down, but it remains a judgment. It has not changed people’s mentality or out everyday lives.

Not many organisations have anti-discrimination policies to provide LGBT+ individuals safe spaces, C Moulee said.