Mumbai: Teen falls to her death after party with friends at Tardeo

Priyanka Kothari

The parents of a 16-year-old girl are in shock after her daughter allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the 23rd floor of a high-rise in Tardeo, late on Friday night, while she was asleep.

A security guard found her lying in a pool of blood in the garden area of the ninth floor. She was rushed to Nair Hospital, where the doctors declared her dead on arrival. The police are still investigating the reason behind the alleged suicide, but sources said that she had attended a party at a friend's residence in Peddar Road that evening, and it's possible that something may have upset her there.

The deceased, identified as Priyanka Kothari, 16, was a Std X student of Hill Spring International School in Tardeo, and those who knew her say she was preparing to study at a foreign university. She lived with her parents Amrish, a jeweller, mother Ruchika and six-year-old brother in Imperial Heights, a twin tower high rise in Tardeo. On Friday, Priyanka left home around 7.30 pm to attend a get-together at a friend's place in Peddar Road. When she returned home around 11.30 pm, her mother is believed to have been asleep. The maid, who opened the door, was the last person to see her. She told the cops that Priyanka had directly gone to her bedroom.

The Kotharis live on the 23rd floor of Imperial Heights, Tardeo. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Efforts to establish identity
Around 1 am, the security guard posted near the garden area of the ninth floor, heard a loud thud. When he checked, he saw a girl lying in a pool of blood. She was wearing a T-shirt and joggers. "The guard immediately called the control room," said a senior police officer. "A patrolling van immediately reached the spot and rushed the girl in a van to Nair Hospital, where doctors declared her dead," added the officer.

However, as the police were yet to establish the identity of the girl, they started conducting inquiries within the building. After around one-and-a-half hours, the police managed to identify her as a resident of flat number 2308 on the 23rd floor. "When one of the constables rang the doorbell, the maid opened the door. After a picture of the girl was shown to her, she rushed inside to call the girl's mother," said an officer, on condition of anonymity.

No suicide note
The police carried out a thorough search of the residence. Priyanka's father had left for Delhi on Friday morning for work. Together with brother Avinash, he runs a close to 80-year-old business out of their Altamount Road boutique. No suicide note was found at the residence. As of now, the Tardeo Police have registered an accidental death report. Her bedroom has a window that couldn't be opened, and therefore, the only place she could have fallen from is the private terrace which the living room opens out into. From the CCTV footage outside, it appears that the girl looked fine when she arrived home.

The police are yet to inspect the CCTV footage of the residence. "Prima facie, there seems to be no history of any pressure of studies or fight with her parents," said a senior officer. From the probe so far, they found that Priyanka had gone to Peddar Road, for a party with her school friend. "Her mother is in deep shock and couldn't recollect the name of the friend, who her daughter was with," said the officer.

Also Read: Mumbai: 22-year-old Mulund resident commits suicide, family alleges torture

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