Man faces harassment for being gay, commits suicide in Chennai

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A 19-year old employee at a spa committed suicide by jumping into the sea. Allegedly, he was ridiculed for his girl like mannerisms. He put up a social media post about the harassment he had suffered.

The Neelankarai police registered a case of drowning and are probing the case.

Avinshu Patel took to Facebook on July 2 to write about how he was bullied. He did not blame anyone in particular. "I'm gay. Everyone knows I'm a boy, but the way I walk, think, feel, talk ... it's like a girl. People living in India don't like this." He also issued an apology to his family for taking the step.

According to the police, Avinshu had contacted one of his friends in Mumbai at 5 pm on the same day and told him that he was going to kill himself. The two hadn't spoken for about a month because of a fight but before the friend could tell him anything, he hung up.

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Avi had switched off his phone and was untraceable by 10 pm. When his manager tried to call him in the morning the next day, the phone was answered by a police officer who said that Avi had been found dead.

The spa helped his family to travel to Chennai to bring his body back to Mumbai.

He had been working with the spa for three months. According to the problems, Avi did not face any problems at his workplace.

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