Vijay Anthony issues first statement after daughter Meera's demise: I have died with her

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Vijay Antony's 16-year-old daughter Meera Antony was laid to rest at a church in Nungambakkam, Chennai on Wednesday. She allegedly died by suicide at her Teynampet residence on September 19. In his first statement post the tragedy, the Tamil actor and composer remembered his child fondly.

Vijay issued a statement in Tamil. It loosely translates to, "My dear people, my daughter Meera is a loving and brave girl. She is now in a better and silent place where caste, creed, money, jealousy, pain, poverty and animosity are not there. She is still talking to me. I have died with her. I have now started spending time for her. I will now do good things on her behalf and she will kickstart them."

At the funeral, Meera's mother Fatima Vijay Antony, reportedly said, "I carried you in the womb... You could have said a word to me." Reports stated that the family wanted privacy and restricted media access to the church when the funeral was taking place.

16-year-old Meera was found hanging in her Teynampet residence in the early hours of September 19 and was rushed to a city hospital where she was declared 'brought dead' by the doctors. She is among the two daughters of Antony and was studying in Class 12 at a private school here. A case of unnatural death was registered, and an investigation is on. Meera was a top performer and was the cultural secretary head of her school.

Extending support to the grieving Vijay Antony, the makers of Thalapathy Vijay's Leo postponed the launch of the film's poster by a day. On X, the production house wrote, "Deepest condolences to @vijayantony sir for the unbearable loss. Our prayers are with you & your family! We respect & believe it's appropriate to postpone today's #Leo poster reveal to tomorrow."

A video of Vijay talking about his father went viral a couple of days ago. The actor-composer lost him at a young age due to suicide. "No matter what crisis you face in life, don't just commit suicide. It should not be done. I feel very sad when I think about the children (of those who committed suicide). My father committed suicide. I was seven years old then. My sister was also five years old. The reason for that and so on is my personal life. It doesn't need to be said here. It may not be a big deal for you. But I know how much my mother struggled to bring us up after my father left. That's why I feel so sad when I hear about suicide. I know the depth of various crises in life. Seeing a lot of people. But never think about suicide," he said in the viral video.