- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Fri, 21 Nov 2025 04:44 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A day after a 19-year-old student, identified as Arnav Khaire, allegedly died by suicide in Maharashtra’s Thane over an argument for not speaking Marathi, his father said that his son traumatically kept on repeating his ‘assault’ that he faced.
Jitendra Khaire, father of the victim, a first-year science student, Arnav Khaire, said that his son was on his way to college in a crowded train. While travelling in the train, Arnav asked a co-passenger to move forward in Hindi, which enraged the people nearby. Subsequently, people asked him if he was ashamed to speak in Marathi and then went on repeatedly slapping him.
"My son left for college in the morning in a crowded train, where the usual pushing and shoving happened inside the compartment. He told me that he asked someone to move forward as he was getting squished. Soon, some people asked him 'Can't you speak Marathi? Are you ashamed of speaking in Marathi?'," he told reporters.
Jitendra added that his son was frightened by the number of people who had surrounded him and instead of deboarding at Mulund for his college, he deboarded at Thane. Subsequently, he took a train from Thane to reach his college in Mulund.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kalyanji Gete, who is investigating the matter, said, "The father sensed fear and tension in his voice. On returning home from work later that evening, he found the door closed. He broke down the door with the help of neighbours, and found his son hanging with a blanket around his neck.”
Jitendra has registered a police report based on which an Accidental Death Report was registered. However, no arrests have been made so far.
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Maharashtra Shocker: Incident
The incident took place on Tuesday, November 18, evening, when Arnav Khaire, a student at Kelkar College in Mumbai’s Mulund, was found dead at his home in Kalyan. Arnav was allegedly assaulted on a suburban train for not speaking in Marathi earlier that morning, said officials investigating the matter.
According to his father, this assault had caused mental stress for Arnav which forced him to take the drastic step.
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