Chhattisgarh woman dies by suicide after internet disruption; family cites 'reels' habit
A 52-year-old woman in Chhattisgarh's Korba district died by suicide on Monday after she allegedly consumed pesticide in her home, two days after an episode that her family says was triggered by repeated failures of mobile internet connectivity. Police have launched an inquiry into the incident, which took place in Kerakachhar village under the Kartala police station limits.
The woman, identified as Manglo Bai Sarathi, was found in a critical state by her 17-year-old daughter on the afternoon of Saturday, September 5, 2026. According to a police official, the daughter immediately alerted other family members. Sarathi was rushed to the Kartala primary health centre, where doctors provided initial treatment. Due to her deteriorating health, she was transferred to a medical college hospital in Korba. She died during treatment on Monday night, officials said.
Initial statements recorded from the family suggest that Sarathi had become deeply involved with short-form videos called 'reels,' which are widely popular on social media applications such as Instagram and Facebook. These videos usually last from several seconds to a few minutes and are designed to play in an autoplay loop. Reels often feature catchy music and comedy, and for many rural users, they have become a primary form of digital recreation. Her relatives told police that she spent large parts of her day watching these clips on her mobile phone.
On the day of the incident, the internet connection in her village began to fail repeatedly, causing the videos to load slowly or stop abruptly. Police said that, according to the family, Sarathi was visibly upset and agitated. It is alleged that she flung her smartphone to the ground in frustration, damaging the device, and then consumed pesticide that was stored at home for agricultural use. There is no indication that she intended to harm herself before that moment, officials added.
Her daughter, who was present in the house, said her mother seemed normal until the network disruptions began. The girl has reportedly told officers that Sarathi rarely went out and spent most of her time on the phone. When the daughter saw her mother's condition worsening, she cried for help and called neighbours, who assisted in taking her to a health facility. No suicide note was found, and the police have not recovered any piece of evidence that points to a pre-existing mental health condition or personal conflict.
A police officer with knowledge of the probe, requesting not to be named, said the family has presented a narrative that will now be checked. "We are not treating it as a closed case. We are examining call records, family interactions, and the medical condition of the deceased to understand whether any other factor, such as depression or domestic pressure, may have contributed," the officer said. The police have also asked the telecom operator to provide details about the reported network failures in the area for the relevant time.
This tragic event highlights the expanding reliance on digital entertainment in rural parts of India and how interruptions to it can affect emotions. Mental health practitioners say that while sudden internet outages are unlikely to cause a person to take their own life, for someone already vulnerable, such an occurrence might act as a stressor. It is essential to assess the person's overall mental state and not isolate a single trigger, they caution. The use of the word 'addiction' in preliminary police statements, however, should not be presented as a confirmed clinical diagnosis. Some mental health professionals suggest that an extreme reaction to such an outage may reflect 'nomophobia' or a broader anxiety disorder, but no such evaluation was done here.
This incident underscores the need for making mental health interventions accessible at community level. The National Tele-Mental Health Programme, with its helpline Tele-MANAS (14416), provides free counselling and immediate support. Sneha, a suicide prevention organisation in Chennai, can be reached at 044-24640050 between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. on most days. People experiencing emotional distress or noticing disturbing behaviour in family members are urged to contact these services.
