A 15-year-old boy committed suicide in South Dinajpur on Thursday evening after being allegedly cheated by fraudsters while he was trying to collect money for the treatment of his ailing brother.

Joy Murmu, a class IX student from Gopalbati village, has left behind a suicide note detailing the alleged fraud.

Sources said Joy’s father, Jashoda, is a farmer, and his mother, Parbati, is a homemaker. He has a five-and-a-half-year-old brother who suffers from nerve-related problems.

“The family took him to doctors who prescribed medications. Every month, the family had to spend three to four thousand rupees on medicines. Jashoda was grappling with the expenses,” said a villager.

Joy, who studied at a residential school, was home for summer vacation. He learned via social media that there are social organisations that extend help to ailing children from poor socio-economic backgrounds.

“He contacted the organisation and was asked to pay ₹20,000 for registration. He paid ₹3,000, which he had received as a scholarship. He paid another seven to eight thousand rupees that I had saved,” said a bereaved Jashoda.

Soon, the organisation demanded another ₹11,000 from Joy, his family claimed.

“This time, Joy realised that he had been cheated. He did not say anything to his parents and took a drastic step. We learned about it from the note he left,” said Pintu, Joy’s uncle.

On Thursday evening, Joy’s family members broke open the doors to his room when he did not come out for a long time, and found his lifeless body hanging from the ceiling.

Police recovered his body and initiated a probe. Senior police officers of the district suspect that it is yet another case of cybercrime. “We have registered an unnatural death case. If the family files a complaint regarding the fraud that the boy has mentioned in the note, we will conduct a probe,” said an officer.