Finance influencer V Harish dies by suicide; father alleges cyberbullying

(Trigger warning: Story mentions suicide)

V Harish, a financial influencer with over a million followers, has died by suicide at a rented villa near Chennai. His father has alleged that Harish was reportedly “targeted” by Jason Samuel, the CEO of venture studio Zemuria Inc. Harish’s Instagram account was disabled by Meta following allegations made by Samuel, after which he began posting videos on a new handle. Samuel has denied the cyberbullying allegations.

Samuel took to X on Tuesday and wrote, “I am deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen at what has happened and I mourn the loss of life.” 

“I have not cyber-bullied him. I pointed out his lack of license and authority, misrepresentation of license and fraud on SEBI and AMFI where he has not got SEBI RIA for his work and misrepresented that he had an AMFI license when he got the ARN only recently. i.e., his illegal activity.”

He added, “I literally asked him in the video to come back and do this with a proper SEBI license. I never intended or expected this drastic measure to happen and I mourn the loss.”

His father claimed that the online dispute had caused stress to the 27-year-old, contributing to his death. He has sought a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding his son’s death, but no case has been registered yet.

According to South First, the Tambaram police have added a charge of abetment to suicide under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with V Harish’s death. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death and the allegations of online harassment made by his family.

(Disclaimer: If you know someone–friend, colleague, or family member–at risk of suicide, please reach out to Suicide Prevention India Foundation. They maintain a list of telephone numbers (www.spif.in/seek-help/) and can call to speak in confidence.)