Father In India Kills Himself After Failing To Buy Smartphone For Daughter To Attend Online Classes

A 50-year-old man from a village in Sepahijala District of Tripura, India allegedly committed suicide after an argument with his daughter when he bought the wrong phone for her.

In a report written by Priyanka Deb Barman on Hindustan Times, the daughter, a Class 10 student, had demanded her father to buy her a smartphone as she needed it to attend her online classes. However, the farmer only managed to buy an ordinary phone which his daughter did not like.

She smashed the phone after which an argument ensued between her and her father. The man was then last seen going into his room where he was found dead the next day (1 July).

The incident was reported to the police who began their investigation on the cause of death. After conducting a post mortem, the case was declared as an unnatural death.

“We inquired some locals and his family about the matter. During our investigation, we got to know that there was an argument in his house over his failure to buy a smartphone for his daughter,” an officer in charge of Madhupur police station Tapas Das said.

“We conducted post mortem and handed over the body to them. We took an unnatural death case.”

This is not the first time an individual had taken their life due to the hardship of online classes in the midst of this pandemic outbreak. As many schools and universities are forced to transfer their classes online, many students living in rural areas have been struggling to keep up.

Earlier in June, one student in Kerala, India allegedly took her own life after not being able to attend online classes as she did not have a TV or a smartphone. Coming from a poor family, she was worried that her studies would be affected and ran away from home.

Meanwhile, many other students have to take extreme measures in order to attend online classes or to sit for their examinations.

Like the Sabahan student who spent 24 hours in a tree just to get a good internet connection for her online exams, or the Sarawakian student who camped in a rubber plantation to attend her online class.

To all students out there who think online classes are a chore, please remember that there are many others who can’t even afford to have a smart device or an internet connection. 

Also read: Sarawak Student Camps in Rubber Plantation Just So She Can Attend Online Class