Student, 21, fell to his death from Canary Wharf tower block after acting ‘weird’ as girlfriend found ‘covered in blood’
A 21-YEAR-OLD student fell to his death from a London tower block after being in a "confused state".
Nikhil Manglani is believed to have been suffering from aspects of an acute "behavioural disturbance" after becoming unwell at his flat in Canary Wharf.
The promising student had no history of mental health problems and a toxicology report showed no evidence of substance use, an inquest heard.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in the early hours of October 20, 2022 after his girlfriend fled to the concierge desk with "blood covering her face and a lump on her forehead".
After police officers attended Nikhil's flat on the 31st floor of Talisman Tower, they discovered the balcony door open and his lifeless body on the ground.
His body was discovered with "catastrophic injuries" before being pronounced dead at 5.30am.
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Nikhil's girlfriend told Poplar Coroner's Court that she had been staying with him for a few weeks while awaiting her apartment to be ready.
And she said that the two had spent a "very normal" day together on October 19 and had gone for lunch.
After retiring to bed, his girlfriend woke up during the early hours to discover that the TV was on and Nikhil was behaving strangely.
She told the court he kept standing up, removing his clothing and dropping items such as his Playstation.
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While she added that his behaviour was "nothing dangerous, nothing scary, just weird", she began to be concerned after he repeatedly said he wanted to "get rid of this feeling".
As a precaution, she hid any sharp objects such as knives and scissors in her clothes, although she remained at his side trying to comfort him and encouraging him to watch television.
After she placed his phone on charge, his strange behaviour became more erratic and he started to scream while asking her for his mobile device.
At this point, she claimed he jumped on her and attempted to strangle her.
She told the court that during this attack, she was shouting "it's me, it's me" while describing his behaviour as "totally out of character".
After managing to escape, she fled to the building's reception to seek assistance.
The toxicology report found no evidence of drug abuse was detected.
A post-mortem report gave his official cause of death as multiple injuries and blunt force trauma.
His dad, Lal Manglani, confirmed that Nikhil had no history of mental health issues and had that the family were "convinced" he was not suffering from depression at the time of his death, the court heard.
Describing them as a "close-knit family", Nikhil had spoken to his parents shortly before his death and had spent the summer travelling with them, and had given regular updates on his job interviews and studies.
Nikhil had never been aggressive prior to his death, and had been studying a masters degree in London after moving from Hong Kong.
'OUT OF CHARACTER'
Giving her conclusion, Senior Coroner Mary Hassell said: "When I heard the circumstances of Nikhil's death, given his behaviour immediately before leaving the balcony I confessed I had expected the analysis to reveal drugs in his system.
“I thought that he might have taken cocaine or some other stimulant and I was very surprised when the toxicological analysis was negative for drugs and I agree that the features of this story don't fit together very well.
"There are some elements of this [on] which I can make a decision - I think it is highly, highly unlikely that anyone pushed Nikhil, he was on his own at the time."
She continued: "He was acting in a way that was very out of character, he was not suicidal and yet he left the balcony and apparently did so of his own volition. All the evidence points to him being alone at the time, if he had drugs in his system that would have provided the explanation.
"In fact some of the description with his girlfriend fitted with acute behavioural disturbance - often very hot, that is often brought about following the taking of drugs.
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"It all pointed towards that, a person with acute behavioural disturbance can act in a way that's very uncharacteristic and I can believe they'd leave the 31st floor without any intention of taking their life.
"In the circumstances, the only appropriate conclusion for me to reach is to make an open verdict. It has concluded that there is insufficient evidence for me to say this was drug-related or an accident."
You're Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society - from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others... You're Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, , 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,
- Mind, , 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus,, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans, , 116 123
- Movember,
- Anxiety UK , 03444 775 774 Monday-Friday 9.30am-10pm, Saturday/Sunday 10am-8pm