Hyderabad: Jalaluddin, who was obsessed with the India’s Got Talent TV show, wanted to participate in it this year. On his deathbed he told his relatives that he got a message from the show’s organisers asking him to send his video to attend the audition. Jalaluddin wanted to send the videos to the organisers and impress them. His 10-year-old cousin, Abdul Rahman, was among those who saw Jalaluddin burning alive. Yet to recover from shock, Abdul Rahman said he could not do anything but scream.
Although the police has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the message received by Jalaluddin his parents and family alleged that the reality show pushed him to death. "I asked him why he did such a dangerous act. He told me that he got an SMS from India’s Got Talent organisers asking him to attend an audition. They made him perform the dangerous act,” said the victim’s uncle Md Usmanuddin.
“These TV shows push teenagers and kids into danger. Such shows should be banned to keep kids safe. We hope that no other kid meets with Jalaluddin’s fate,” added Usmanuddin. Jalaluddin’s friends say that he was a fan of Fire Ramesh, who had earlier performed in India’s Got Talent and other shows. Jalaluddin had just finished Inter first year from Maqbool Junior College.
Youth’s attempt to impress pals cost him his life:
A 19-year-old youngster, Md Jalaluddin, died on Saturday night while undergoing treatment at Osmania General Hospital for burns suffered while trying to imitate fire stunts he had seen on a reality TV show. After trying the stunt on the streets, he asked his young friends to come with him to the hillock where he would perform another stunt. “His five friends, two of them kids aged between 10 and 15, went with him. After doing the stunt with his mouth, he poured kerosene over his T-shirt and lit it with the burning torch while others recorded his stunt with mobile phone cameras,” said ACP of Falaknuma Md Abdul Bari.
The fire caught quickly and Jalaluddin lost control over it. “He wanted to take off his T-shirt while it was burning. But he could not. His friends ran away screaming for help. Some locals, who were inside a masjid nearby came out and saw the blaze engulfing the victim. They extinguish the fire somehow and took him to OGH, where doctors said close to 60 per cent of his body had been burnt,” said Mr E Saidulu, sub-inspector from Falaknuma.
