Karan Joseph, Bengaluru musician who committed suicide on Saturday, sent messages to friend asking for help

On Saturday morning, a 29-year-old Bengaluru musician Karan Joseph committed suicide by jumping off the 12th floor of his residence building in Bandra. No suicide note was recovered from the site and police is still investigating to find out the reason behind his suicide. A day after his death, several revelations have been made that he sent messages to his friends saying that he need urgent help as someone was beating him up. 

A friend of Karan, who on a condition of anonymity, said, “Karan was in touch with one of his friends and had messaged him saying that he was in urgent need of help as he was being beaten up. Though he did not name the person who was beating him, he was surely in some problem on Saturday morning."

"The message was sent around 5.02 am, in which Karan said, 'Bro please help me I am serious', to which his friend said he would come to meet him. Karan then replied after about a minute, saying, 'Bro please help me, I am being beaten up.' The messages show that it was a pretty serious matter." 

Karan ended his life by jumping off the 12th floor of the Concorde Building in Bandra. The house was owned by Rishi Shah, where he had been living for over a month. 

Bandra police recorded the statements of his friends Rishi, Suzana Uusmaa, a friend and an Australian national who was present in the house when Karan jumped off the window, and his father Dr Thomas Joseph. 

According to sources, Suzana came to Mumbai on a tourist visa on August 28. She was in the city to meet Rishi, whom she has known since 2011, when he was in USA. She said in her statement, “On September 9, the three of us (Rishi, Suzana and Karan) were sitting together on the couch, listening to music and chatting. A while later, Karan wanted to go out and party. Rishi and I stayed at home, and later, I went to sleep. But after a little while, he (Karan) came back after calling Rishi and telling him that he would."

"It seemed as if something had happened while he was out. Once he got back, I woke up and we continued to chill on the couch. After some time, Karan went to the window and sat there. I asked him to sit with us, but he started moving in the room and went back to the window."

Meanwhile, Rishi told the police, "On September 9, Karan came to my house around 7-7.30 am. At the time, my friend Suzana and I were at home. She was asleep. At around 8 am, she woke up and came outside. We were all listening to songs and chatting. Following that, Karan told me that the night before, he was at a party at Tej Brar's residence with a friend, where Sohel and Varun and 10 to 15 more friends were present. Karan said his friends at the party were upset with him but he didn't give any reason. I told him not to these things seriously, just avoid whatever happened and enjoy the music. After that, my cook gave us three glasses of juice. Then, when I saw Karan, he was seated at the window and had one leg down. Before I could think or do anything, he jumped."

Bandra police interrogated Karan’s father. He said, “My son was staying with Rishi Shah since the last one month at his flat in Bandra. A few weeks ago, his mother Tina and I went to meet him. On September 9 around 9 am, Rishi called Tina and said he'd jumped off the window and he is no more. The night before, Karan had sent several messages to his friend Rondolf and said he is in trouble. Karan was physically fit and he was not undergoing any treatment."

A police officer said, "We have got the primary post mortem report of the deceased on Sunday. The police are in the process of recording statements and trying to get in touch with his friends to understand the reason behind his death. An ADR has been registered in the matter."