Take Me Out contestant hanged himself after losing job

Take Me Out contestant hanged himself after losing job



A heartbreaking photo has emerged of a Rohingya Muslim mother desperately clutching her dead baby after the boat they were travelling to escape from Myanmar capsized as the family was fleeing to Bangladesh.



The image bears a tragic resemblance to the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, a young Syrian refugee who washed up dead on a Turkish beach in September 2015.

The desperately sad photo of the dead Rohingya baby boy, only 40 days old, was taken in south-eastern Bangladesh by photographer Dar Yasin.

He describes walking on the beach near the town of Cox's Bazar when he noticed 'some sort of commotion'.



 'A boat had capsized. Some women were unconscious. One woman was crying, as a family member had drowned; three more were in precarious condition and I was unsure if they would make it. Another woman was consoling her,' Yasin told Time.



'And then suddenly, the woman who was consoling the crying woman started wailing herself. Her husband had come over with Abdul Masood, one of their twin sons, who was dead. She held one child who was alive and one who wasn't breathing. It was heartbreaking.'



Yasin said the boat the refugees were travelling in - containing 45 members of the same family - capsized only a few meters from the shore. But it was too far away to save Hanida Begum's child.

The refugees are among hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Burma to escape persecution at the hands of the predominately Buddhist government.

Myanmar leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has received criticism from across the world  for her failure strongly to speak out about their plight. 



 The refugees - who have been described as some of the most persecuted people in the world  - are living in pitiable conditions in squalid camps in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Their misery has been compounded recently by strong monsoon rains which have flooded their flimsy shelters made only out of bamboo and plastic sheets.



People in the camps were left in a mudbath on Wednesday as they desperately packed their meagre belongings into plastic sacks in a desperate quest to find drier shelters.

Their numbers have soared to more than 420,000 in a matter of weeks.

The refugees also have to contend with enforced relocations at the hands of the Bangladesh authorities and extortion demands if they try to remain where they are.



The death of three-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi made global headlines in September 2015 when he drowned while he and his family were trying to reach Europe along with thousands of other refugees.

Photographs of his body quickly spread around the world and became the defining image of the horror of the Middle East refugee crisis.



Charlie's lacrosse team mate and housemate Swabir Abdul Rahmam, 24, told the inquest: 'He really loved his job at the chocolate factory - he was happy.

'But when he went to go film for the Take Me Out TV programme, he lost his job - they terminated his contract.

'He then had nothing to do apart from stay around the house and play on the Xbox and Playstation. He would have spent that time at work.'

Family and friends told the inquest Charlie had self-harmed previously and taken anti-depressant medication in the past.

But Mr Rahmam said those days were behind him and at the time 'he was cheerful and happy'.



Charlie's psychiatrist Vivienne Sabre described him as 'the life and soul of every party, but would suddenly retreat into the back of his mind moments later'.

The 22-year-old tragically posted after graduating in June 2016: 'My one regret is not finding that one woman for me to spend the rest of my life with.'

Charlie, known on Take Me Out as 'Chaz Man', even posted a picture on his Facebook account of the show's application form as he filled it in.

He was then called up to join match-making host Paddy McGuinness and shot scenes in February, winning a date with pretty brunette Jo-Tara.



In a Twitter post, McGuinness said the episode featuring Charlie would be dedicated to his memory.

The presenter wrote: 'Tonight's Take Me Out is in memory of Charlie. A fantastic lad who I'm sure will be greatly missed by his wonderful friends and family. RIP.'

It was broadcast on April 23 after ITV were granted the go-ahead from his family.

Charlie's date with Jo-Tara was also broadcast a week later as the pair jetted off to the show's fictional Isle of Fernando's, where their date 'went really well'.



The inquest heard Charlie had spent the day before his death drinking with his brother in Leeds, West Yorkshire, before enjoying a charity dinner with friends in York.

He was found hanged in his bedroom by his flatmates the following evening, on March 13.

Mr Rahmam, who was the first to find Charlie, used a credit card to slide open the latch and attempt to open the door.

He told the inquest: 'I knew Charlie was dead - panic then set in and I called for an ambulance.'