Bengaluru youth jumps to death in Mumbai, live streams on Facebook

A 23-year-old youth hailing from Bengaluru committed suicide on Monday by jumping from the 19th floor of Taj Lands End Hotel in city’s Bandra neighbourhood. He posted the act on Facebook Live.

Initial investigations revealed that the victim, Arjun Bhardwaj, was the son of a Bengaluru-based businessman. The youth was a student at a prominent college in Mumbai.

The incident was reported at 6.20 pm when the hotel staff found him in a pool of blood. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital but was declared brought dead.

The Mumbai police have recovered a suicide note which indicates that he was disturbed. He apologised for the act before jumping from the window that he had broken earlier.

In a one minute and 43 seconds long video, he is heard describing the suicide plan. Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Deven Bharti is supervising the investigation being conducted by the Bandra police station.

Bharti appealed to the media not to broadcast the video as clips from Facebook Live went viral on WhatsApp. "It's disturbing and can have a huge impact on young minds," he said.

Police managed to block the video after speaking to FB officials. Police have recovered a set of suicide notes from the hotel room. The victim’s cellphone is being examined.

The police have contacted his family which is arriving in Mumbai to claim the body.