In a shocking incident, a 24-year old woman committed suicide by consuming toxin after her husband scolded her for spending too much time on Tik Tok app. The woman named Anitha killed herself at her residence in Perambalur, Tamil Nadu and video recorded the whole act. She also recorded a statement before committing suicide asking her husband to take care of their kids.
Anitha was married to 29-year old Palanivel (some reports say Palani) and they have two children, a four-year-old daughter, and two-year-old son. Palanivel was into agricultural trade and had moved to Singapore for work a few years back. Anitha’s family members allege that she was addicted to Tik Tok app which was introduced to her by a friend of hers. She was allegedly neglecting her children due to her addiction to the app.
When things went out of hand, her family members informed her husband about her addiction who tried to persuade her to restrict the use of the mobile app. According to her family, she did not listen to her husband and continued with her ways.
On one occasion, her daughter hurt herself while playing while Anitha remained busy on Tik Tok. Her family members told Palanivel about it and urged him to ask her to take care of the children. Palanivel scolded her over the phone for the incident. He allegedly threatened to destroy her phone.
Angry over her husband scolding her, she consumed pesticide and recorded video of the act. She was immediately rushed to Ariyalur Government Hospital and then to a private hospital in Trichy but she could not be saved. A case has been registered by the police and investigation is underway.
Tik Tok is a very popular smartphone app which allows users to create and share short video clips. The app has been instrumental in creating several viral trends and internet celebrities. In April this year, the Madras High Court had banned the app in India saying it was dangerous to children and it was encouraging pornography. Following that the app was taken down from app stores of mobile platforms and it was not available for download, but existing installations continued to work. Later that month the ban was lifted by the court.