Goa:
On Christmas Day, she was packing excitedly for Goa. Five days later, she collapsed from suspected drug overdose at a Goan beach festival and died in hospital.
A 23-year-old girl from Delhi, who worked as a hospitality professional in Bangalore, died at the Sunburn music festival at Candolim in north Goa on Wednesday morning. Sources say she consumed a hallucinatory drug called Angel Dust on Tuesday at around 4 pm. By about 7 pm she collapsed, while at the festival, and was hospitalised in a critical condition.
She died of a multi-organ failure. The post mortem will take place at the Goa Medical College, where her body has been kept.
The girl was attending the three-day festival at Candolim with friends after having won a VIP pass and return tickets to Goa. On facebook she had said: "Still can't believe it! Starting the countdown to Goa now...just a week to go!!"
While some people close to her claim she bought and consumed the drug inside the festival premises, organisers flatly deny the allegation. "We have sniffer dogs on location, over 180 guards who are trained to look for any kind of trouble. There are CCTV cameras all around we have already given the police copies of the footage. There is no question of her getting the drug there. Sunburn is a drug-free event."
The girl's father said she suffered from Bipolar disorder which made her more susceptible to drug use. "She wouldn't take her medication regularly", he rued. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes extreme shifts in mood.
But her father does not suspect foul play. "She did not need foul play to be in this situation. The medical problem itself was self destructive. She would walk into trouble because of her lack of discretion," he said. And he will not file a complaint. "That's for the police to do," he said. But he did voice his disappointment at the rampant availability of drugs in Goa.
The Superintendent of Police North Goa, Bosco George, said, "We are looking into the matter of the girl from Bangalore who died. We are awaiting for her post mortem and then proceed with our investigations...All I can say is that drugs were not easily available. If they were, there was a team who was posted there to check on things."
Thousands of young people converge on Candolim beach for the Sunburn festival. The event draws DJs from around the world. The beach party also has its share of celebrities and models chilling out.
Tragically, on December 21, she wrote on her Facebook wall: RIP Brittany Murphy. Ten days later she herself is no more.