Moral policing victim kills self; blames shaming on Facebook

 In a shocking incident, a young man, the victim of moral policing on Valentines Day at Kollam committed suicide near his house in Palakkad.  His suicide note blamed it on repeated humiliation on Facebook and social media for his death.  

Aneesh, 24, a resident of Anagada near Agali in Palakkad, was found hanging from a tree in the premises of his house around 6 pm on Thursday, ten days after he filed a complaint with Kollam police against a moral policing by a gang at Azheekal beach.  The youth, an employee of a private firm in Ernakulam, and his friend were allegedly attacked by  a group of men at Azheekal beach in Kollam on Valentines Day. The gang questioned the two friends alleging that they were indulging in immoral activity and took their videos and spread it through social media platforms. Aneesh had filed a complaint with the police on 14 February.
 

Related: This is how Kerala couple tackled moral police with FB live
 

Though Aneesh and his friend stood strong during the harrowing trial by the moral policing brigade and went on to pursue the complaint, he couldn't withstand the persistent shaming on the social media, as is evident from his suicide recovered by the police. 
 

Related: SFI resorts to smear campaign against victims after moral policing in campus
 

The suicide note blamed the continuous attempts of character assassination on social media. Even though the gang that attacked them remained silent, some of their friends continued to spread canards through Facebook, the suicide note of Aneesh lamented. He also named Dhanesh, who is accused in the incident on Valentine's Day and another person named Ramesh for forcing him to take the drastic step. Police said that the youth ended his life after repeated humiliation. Some friends of the accused in the case had started a Facebook page on the Azheekal incident and continued to spread rumours about Aneesh and his friend for taking the issue to police. The Facebook page was later removed, police said. 
 

Related: Comrade, we also want to walk freely and fearlessly: Moral policing victim tells CPM leader
 

The police have registered a case against five persons for abetting suicide of the young man. The State Human Rights Commission also started investigation into the incident. The relatives of the deceased demanded that a case of culpable homicide should be taken against the accused in the moral policing case. 

Instances of  moral policing are on the rise in Kerala in the recent past. Two girls and a young man was attacked allegedly by leftist students union activists at University College in Thiruvananthapuram early this month for sitting together in the campus. Two days back, two friends who were sitting at Museum Park in the Kerala Capital was threatened by women cops and were taken to police station. The incident hit headlines after the youth went live on Facebook video, exposing the police officer's attempts to shame them in public. 

• Moral policing
• victim kills self
• Facebook