Boy takes own life days after girlfriend’s suicide

MANILA, Philippines — A teenaged boy, broken-hearted over the suicide of his girlfriend, ended his own life by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room with a blanket, police said.

Case investigator Police Officer 2 Anthony Tejerero said Jefferson Taparan, 16, was found  hanging by the neck from a beam inside his room shortly after his sister arrived home in Barangay (village) Sauyo, Novaliches, from work around 6:15 p.m. Sunday.

Relatives rushed him to the FEU hospital where he was eventually declared dead after midnight, Tejerero said.

Tejerero said the boy, a fourth year high school student, used a blanket and looped it around his neck with the other end tied to a beam in the ceiling.

He said investigators learned that a week earlier, Taparan’s 15-year-old girlfriend who lived in the same neighborhood had taken her own life for still unknown reasons.

“It was unclear what the couple’s relationship status was. The girl’s family did not have the suicide investigated,” Tejerero said, adding that the girl’s death had apparently broken Taparan’s heart.

Tejerero said that before taking his own life, Taparan texted his sister Jharyn: “Patawarin niyo ako sa gagawin ko, mahal na mahal ko kayong lahat, alagaan mo si Mama at si Papa (Forgive me for what I am about to do. I love all of you very much. Take care of Mama and Papa).”

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