Bangalore, May 4
Close on the heels of the mysterious death of 19-year-old Richard Loitham, another unnatural death struck the student community from the North-Eastern states enrolled in various institutions in Bangalore when another Manipuri student Jackio Heisnam committed suicide by hanging here yesterday.

“Jackio was 22-23 years of age. He killed himself due to personal reasons,” Arun, publicity and communication secretary of the Meitei Manipuri Association, Bangalore, said.

Jackio, who was studying engineering in a college here, hung himself in his rented accommodation in front of his girlfriend after having fought with her for not answering his call. He apparently suspected her of preparing the ground for walking out on him.

After Jackio had hung himself, the horrified girl called out to his friend in the next room and rushed Jackio to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Arun said the girlfriend, who too is from Manipur, went to the police station and gave a statement regarding Jackio’s death.

Jackio’s is not the first case of suicide in Bangalore this year involving youngsters from a North-Eastern state. In January, two young brothers from Assam who had come to Bangalore in search of jobs, attempted suicide after they felt that they were being suspected of having a homosexual relationship. The brother who had hung himself died while the other who had slashed his wrist survived.

Notably, Bangalore, known for its booming IT sector industry, is also known as the suicide capital of the country due to the very high rate of suicides in the city. With the latest figure of 1,778 suicides annually, Bangalore tops the chart among the metropolitan cities of the country.

Experts said that being the tech hub of India, the city attracts a huge number of people from across the country. “Many are unable to cope with the stress,” G Gururaj, professor and head of Department of Epidemiology, NIMHANS, said.

The death of Richard Loitham, however, has nothing to do with suicide. Loitham was found dead in his hostel room in Bangalore on April 18. His friends suspect Loitham’s hostel mates Vishal Banerjee and Afzal Ali, with whom Loitham had a scuffle the previous evening, to be responsible for his death. The North-Eastern students have launched an agitation demanding police action against the culprits.