Every year, more than 13,000 students die by suicide in India, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. Behind every number is a story. Sometimes, it is academic pressure. Sometimes, it is loneliness. And sometimes, it begins with bullying.
For Aarti Malhotra, that story is her son Arvey's.
Today, she is known as Internet Ki Mummy, a creator whose videos comfort young people struggling with grief and mental health. But before that, she was a single mother trying to build a happy life with her only son.
Malhotra says she left an abusive marriage when Arvey was just four months old and later even moved away from her parents' home to give him a better future. Their lives revolved around each other, and she believed they were happy.
She says she had no idea her son had been silently enduring years of bullying.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Arvey was in Class 10 when an online English lesson on The Hundred Dresses, a story about bullying, triggered a severe panic attack. According to Malhotra, the chapter brought back years of painful experiences he had never spoken about.
She says Arvey later told his therapist that classmates mocked him for being soft-spoken, questioned his gender, humiliated him repeatedly and subjected him to degrading behaviour. On one birthday, she alleges they poured adhesive on his desk so his clothes would stick before making fun of him.
When the therapist asked why he had never told his mother, Malhotra says Arvey revealed he had been threatened into staying silent. According to her, he feared that speaking up would put both him and his mother at risk. Terrified, he kept everything to himself until he finally told his therapist, "I am feeling very overwhelmed. School is troubling me and my mumma. I can't take this anymore."
Malhotra says she immediately informed the principal, coordinator and headmistress of the school, where she herself worked as a teacher. According to her, the allegations were first dismissed and later questioned because there was no proof.
She believes the bullying reflected a wider problem where boys who are gentle or emotionally expressive are often targeted and ridiculed.
According to Malhotra, years of trauma left Arvey struggling with depression and recurring panic attacks.
In 2022, she received a call from neighbours at the housing society they had moved into just two months earlier. Believing it was another panic attack, she asked them to take him to Sarvodaya Hospital while she rushed there.
It took her around 40 minutes to arrive.
By the time she reached the hospital, Arvey had already died.
Later, while immersing his ashes in the Ganga, she says she promised her son she would fight for justice.
Instead of letting grief define her, Malhotra created Internet Ki Mummy, a platform where she speaks about bullying, mental health and healing.
She says many young people write to tell her that her videos gave them hope and encouraged them to seek help.
Her fight for justice continues. So does her mission to ensure no child suffers in silence.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, help is available. Contact the Government of India's Tele-MANAS mental health helpline at 14416 or 1-800-89-14416, available 24x7.
