12-yr-old jumped under influence of Japanese web series: Probe

KOLKATA: Two days after a 12-year-old boy of Phoolbagan area jumped to death from the roof of an eleven storeyed building, police have learnt that the deceased was influenced by a Japanese animated web series. The boy had climbed up the roof of the housing complex on Canal Circular Road on Saturday, when his family members were busy with Saraswati Puja rituals and guests visiting the house on the occasion.

The sleuths, during probe, checked the details of the boy's smartphone and found that his last activity was on an OTT platform. When investigating officers opened the OTT platform, they found that the deceased boy was watching a Japanese animation series styled as Platinum End. In the web series, the protagonist— styled as Mirai Kakehashi—is a student, who tries to commit suicide but gets saved by an angel. Later, he comes to know he and 12 other children were chosen by the God, who has supernatural powers. As per the plot, the children in the web series are being protected by 13 angels.

Cops suspect that the boy was deeply influenced by the animation series and started thinking himself as one of the 13 children mentioned in the web series. Priyabrata Roy, Deputy Commissioner of East Suburban Division (ESD) said: "No foul play was found. We are quite sure that the boy was influenced by the web series and jumped from the rooftop expecting that he will be saved by an angel." The victim, a student of an English-medium school in the city is the youngest in his family and survived by his parents and an elder brother.