Mumbai: Animation artist kills self over debt

The body was found by his colleagues. Representation pic

A 38-year-old animation artist allegedly took his own life by consuming poison over lakhs of debt. The victim, Shrinivas Parthsarathi, was found dead in a hotel room where he had been staying with his friend since December 1, as per Bangur Nagar police.

Police said that on Monday, Parthsarathi called Ashwin Shigote, who he had been living with, after Shigote left for work and told him that he was thinking about drinking poison. Shigote tried to dissuade him and kept calling him in intervals to check on him. However, Parthsarathi stopped answering his calls around 11 am, following which Shigote and another colleague, Anuj Gupta, rushed to the hotel. They opened the door with the help of hotel staff and found Parthsarathi lying on the bed.

They rushed him to Tunga Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Shigote then informed the police who registered an accidental death report in the incident. Shigote told the police that Parthsarthi was in debt and was separated from his wife who was living in Tamil Nadu along with their son.

Bangur Nagar police are investigating the case, but prima facie no foul play is suspected. "We registered an ADR and sent the body for autopsy to Bhagwati Hospital," said a police officer, adding that they have informed his family but no one has arrived to claim the body yet.

1 Dec
Day when the victim started staying at the hotel