Anand (13) had climbed a tree with the help of a sack, fashioned a noose from a towel, hung it from a branch, and pretended to hang himself. 

Ballia (UP): In a tragic mishap, 1 13-year-old boy accidentally hung himself to death from a tree in a village of Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district on Saturday. According to the police, the teenager was pretending to hang himself while playing with his friends when the tragedy occurred.

The deceased, Anand, was playing with his younger brother and some other children when the incident took place in Madhopur village in Rasra police station area, an official said.

Giving details, the official said the incident occurred on Friday evening when the children were playing in a nearby field in the village.

He said that Anand, following an argument with his younger brother, climbed a tree with the help of a sack, fashioned a noose from a towel, hung it from a branch, and pretended to hang himself.

However, the suicide “prank” went wrong as Anand lost his balance as his foot slipped and accidentally hung himself to death, Circle Officer (CO) of Rasra Mohammad Fahim Qureshi told news agency PTI.

Upon witnessing the mishap, Anand’s friends and brother raised an alarm and some villagers reached the spot but by Anand had died by the time they arrived, CO Qureshi said.

Anand was a student of class 5 in a private school in Amhar area. At the time of the incident, Anand’s parents were away at work.

The body of the deceased has been sent for post-mortem examination, police said. Village head Pramod Kumar told PTI that Anand has two brothers and a sister.

Kumar said that Anand’s father Chhote Lal and his mother Ramavati Devi work as labourers. The financial condition of Chhote Lal’s family is not good, and the family lives in a tin shed house, he said.

Speaking to PTI, Rasra MLA Uma Shankar Singh expressed sadness over the incident. Singh said that he will soon meet the victim’s family and work on providing financial assistance to them.

(With PTI inputs)