A Class VII student died in a bid to see what 'suicide felt like', on Wednesday. Shoaib Khan (12) hung himself from the ceiling with a dupatta, at his Upadhaya Chawl residence in Vijay Nagar, Sakinaka, asking his younger brother and sister to watch the ghastly act.

The Sakinaka police came to know there had two to three suicides in less than two months in the neighbourhood. "He did it out of curiosity to know what one gains by hanging himself," a policeman said.

Shoaib, student of an Urdu-medium civic school, made an attempt two days earlier. "He tied a dupatta to his neck, gave one end to his nine-year-old brother and the other to his seven-year-old sister and asked them to tighten it around his neck. Seeing this, his mother Sahijahan rushed to stop them and warned them not to try it again," a police officer said.

Police said the incident occurred around 11 pm, minutes after Shoaib and his family celebrated his maternal uncle Nabiullah Khan's daughter's birthday. "After dinner I asked Shoaib to go home with siblings as more relatives would come and there would be little space in the house. Everything happened in less than five minutes after they went," an inconsolable Sahijahan told TOI on Friday.

Shoaib ended his life in front of his siblings and they were left helpless to save his life.

"On reaching home, he latched the door and asked if we want to see a person hanging. The next moment he kept a gallon on the bed and stood on it. He tied a dupatta from the ceiling and hanged himself," his sister said. She somehow unlocked the door and called her neighbour for help. "The neighbours called Shoaib's mother and uncle from the birthday party. Nabiullah lowered Shoaib after cutting the dupatta," said Sakinaka senior inspector S R Dhanedhar.

Shoaib was rushed to Faujia Hospital Kurla (West) and later to Sion hospital where he was declared dead before admission. Shoaib's curiosity grew after seeing the hanging body of a 24-year-old MBA student Puja, who hung herself on May 24. "Two more people ended their life by hanging later in the area. This made Shoaib curious and he tried to copy it, without knowing the consequences," said Sakinaka sub-inspector V T Tambe. The post-mortem report showed he died due to asphyxiation and an accidental death report has been registered.