Trigger warning: Contains graphic details of suicide.
New Delhi: “I have lost, and my father has won.” That was the last message from a 23-year-old Kanpur lawyer to his family, before he ended it all by jumping off a court building. He signed off by saying “I quit”, and requested that his body should not be even touched by his father, the man he accused of humiliating him all his life.
Priyanshu Srivastava uploaded the message as his WhatsApp status.
Kanpur East Deputy Commissioner of Police Satyajit Gupta said that Priyanshu appeared to have died by suicide after jumping off the fifth floor of the court complex. “Police officers are present at the scene, and CCTV footage has been examined. The deceased’s suicide note and WhatsApp status are being closely examined,” DCP Gupta said.
Priyanshu, who got his law degree last year, was yet to register with the state bar council in Prayagraj. While Priyanshu did not mention an immediate cause, he mentioned a string of insults and humiliation by his father.
“At around the age of six, I was stripped naked and thrown out of the house for drinking mango juice from the refrigerator without telling anyone. I agree that every mother and father should adopt a strict approach from the beginning to ensure their children’s future, they shouldn’t be so strict that their children feel left out every moment. I’ve tried many times to escape this environment and move on, but after everything that’s happened to me since the age of 23, I don’t think such a shameful life is worth living,” Priyanshu wrote.
“The excessive pressure to study, the assault if the syllabus isn’t fully prepared the day before an exam, are all understandable to a certain extent, but constantly looking at every minute with suspicion, excessively calculating every minute, is truly mental torture. I can’t live with this torture for much longer. Strictness, affection, and love should not be so extreme that it turns into hatred,” the lawyer wrote before dying by suicide.
He further narrated that his father had bullied him into pursuing Computer Science in the ninth grade, despite his complete lack of interest in the subject, by threatening to throw him out of the house. He said he had once fled home due to his father’s insults.
“After passing intermediate, I started teaching tuitions so that I would not become a burden on my family. When I realised that this work required a lot of effort, I started my own online work so I could work on the side and meet my household expenses,” the lawyer said.
“During this time, I bore the expenses of my mobile phone, my parents’ mobile phones, my sister’s mobile phone, my scooter, daily household expenses and the electricity bill. But despite all this, my father insults me by shouting and shouting at me outside the house, using words like “namard (unmanly)”, “hijda (eunuch)”, “cripple” and “handicapped”.
He added that his father never appreciated Priyanshu’s help with his father’s legal work. “Today, I’m helpless because I don’t have my own home or office. I’m constantly insulted and threatened every day. I’ve stepped back from my daily routine to focus on their work, leaving my own important work behind. Today, they have disgraced me in the neighbourhood, destroying my reputation,” he said.
The lawyer urged that no action should be taken against his father because it would affect his mother and sister’s lives.
“I want to make an appeal to all parents that they should torture their children only so much that they can withstand the pressure,” he said, adding, “I wish no one gets a father like mine.”
The Fortis Stress Helpline (8376804102) is a 24×7 helpline run by a multilingual team of mental health professionals in order to support individuals experiencing emotional distress.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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