Chennai girl sets herself on fire after father doesn't gift her cellphone on birthday

An 18-year-old college student in Chennai took her life by setting herself on fire after her father could not gift her a cellphone on her birthday. The incident took place in GKM Colony of Kolathur in North Chennai on Thursday, September 6.

Here's what happened

The father of the victim, who has been identified as Malathi, had promised his teenage daughter that he would gift her a cellphone of her choice on her birthday. On Thursday, September 6, it was Malathi's birthday and there was party at her residence, wherein she cut a cake along with her friends and relatives.

"Soon after her friends left, she asked her father if he had the cellphone that he had promised her as a birthday gift. The father tried to explain that he did not have enough money and said he would buy her a phone next month ," The Times of India quoted a police officer investigating the case as saying.

A few minutes later the girl bolted herself in a room and set herself on fire.

"Family members broke open the door and rushed her to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital where she died of her injuries," the police officer added.

The cops are currently investigating the suicide case and have found out that the girl had been pressing her father to buy her a mobile phone as she had seen her friends posting photographs and updating their statuses on social media platforms, reported the English daily. The victim had also told her father that if he buys her a cellphone then she can exchange college notes with her friends too.

However, the teenage girl's father, who is a mason by profession did not buy her a phone as he did not want her to use one.