A gender-questioning teenager from India has died by suicide after their classmates ridiculed them for their feminine looks and suggested they were trans.
The 16-year-old, who has not been named, lived in Uttar Pradesh, India, and said in a suicide note to their father that they had started to question their gender identity.
“Papa, I’m sorry as I could not be a good son,” the suicide note, seen by the National Indian Herald, said.
The teenager from India said they had started to feel like they could be trans.
“I cannot earn like you. I have girl-like features and even my face is like them,” they continued.
“People laugh at me. Even I have started feeling that I am a ‘kinnar’ (transgender).
“My life will darken your life and that is the reason why my death is necessary. Please bless me that I take birth as a girl. If a girl is born in our family, then you must believe that I have returned.”
People laugh at me. Even I have started feeling that I am a ‘kinnar’ (transgender).
The teenager’s father told reporters that his child was “misunderstood” by relatives, who would make “absurd comments” about them.
“Sometimes, he would apply makeup and dance like a woman which is not abnormal for someone his age,” the father added.
The death of an Indian actor may have encouraged the teenager to attempt suicide.
The teen’s body was discovered on Monday night (June 15). Their younger brother told police that the death may, in part, have been brought about following the reporting of the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
“A day before ending his life, my brother had said when an actor like Sushant Singh Rajput could [die by suicide], then he too could do it too,” the brother said.
The teenager is survived by two brothers, a sister and their father.
Their mother died four years ago. The family had been living together in Bareilly, where their father runs a mobile store.
Suicide is preventable. Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.