An Instagram post is being shared widely claiming that a Hyderabad based YouTuber ended his life due to ‘lack of views on his YouTube channel’. Let’s verify the claim made in this post.
Claim: A 23-year-old Hyderabad based YouTuber ended his life due to lack of views on his YouTube channel.
Fact: The victim, C Dheena, posted a letter on his Twitter handle before ending his life. In his letter, he says, he’s been struggling with childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, improper parenting, etc. Additionally, he also mentioned that his YouTube channel ‘seLFlo’ was “probably the happiest thing happened to him”. He felt happy to see the channel analytics improving every month. Also, in the FIR, there is no statement related to his YouTube channel. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We searched the internet with the relevant keywords and found several news reports regarding this incident. They can be seen here and here.
According to these reports, C Dheena , a 23 year old student of IIITM Gwalior, used to run a gaming YouTube channel called ‘seLFlo’. He jumped from the terrace of his apartment on 21 July 2022 . He also posted a letter on his Twitter handle just before his death. Saidabad police registered an FIR and investigating the case.
Taking the cue from this, we found a letter on his Twitter account. He posted it on 21 July 2022 at 4:38 AM. One can find it here
According to this letter, Dheena has been struggling with various issues like Childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, improper parenting etc. However, he was very happy for having the YouTube channel ‘seLFlo’, since it gave him an opportunity to interact with friendly & supportive people. In fact, he felt satisfied with his channel growth.
Upon further research, we found an FIR copy filed at Saidabad police station. You can find it here. The victim’s father clearly stated that, “On 21-07-2022 at about 05:30 AM, my son C Dheena, Age: 23 yrs studying at IIIT Gwalior, 5th year, Committed Suicide in our Apartment. We have no foul play in the incident. Hence requested to take necessary steps as per procedure at the earliest.”
Hence, it is evident that ‘lack of views’ on his YouTube channel is not the reason for this YouTuber’s death by suicide.
