Teenager Kills Self After Brother Accidentally Breaks Her Smartphone

A teenager in India killed herself Tuesday after her brother accidentally broke a smartphone she had bought with her savings.

The incident took place in the Sabura village of Khatima town in Udham Singh Nagar in the northern Indian district of Uttarakhand. The girl, identified as Manisha Arya, 19, hanged herself after the smartphone slipped on the floor from her brother's hand while he was playing video games on it and got broken, The Times of India reported.

The deceased girl's father, Ramesh Ram Arya, told the investigators that Manisha worked in the paddy fields on daily wage and bought the smartphone with her hard-earned money. Manisha reportedly got angry after the drop cracked the cellphone. She then locked herself in a room before taking the extreme step, the outlet reported.

Manisha's body has been sent for an autopsy and an investigation into her death is ongoing.

Of the 10 Himalayan states of India, Uttarakhand holds the third position in terms of the total number of suicides due to family issues, says a 2020 report by The New Indian Express. In 2019, the hill state accounted for 76% of the total number of suicides among all Indian states, the outlet reported, citing National Crime Record Bureau data.

In September, a teenager in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh killed himself after his parents took away his smartphone because he was spending too much time on it. The victim, identified as Lohit, 15, got scolded by his parents for being overtly addicted to the mobile game PUBG, which made him upset, and he took the extreme step.