NILAI: Preliminary police investigations into the death of a 15-year-old boy who alleged that he was forced to drink poison by a group of schoolboys have revealed that he may have actually committed suicide.

Nilai OCPD Supt Zaldino Zaludin (pic) said this was based on medical reports as well as interviews with several witnesses, including the deceased's best friend.

"The deceased was in love with a schoolmate but she turned him down.

"He had even threatened to take his own life if she did not return his love," he told reporters on Thursday.

Supt Zaldino said the boy's best friend was with him when he brought a mineral water bottle containing a blueish liquid to school on April 26.

"The victim apparently told his best friend that he wanted to end his life when they met outside his old school.

"The friend tried to stop him but he ignored him and walked into a rubber estate where we believe he drank the liquid," he said.

The deceased, S. Pravin, who had stopped schooling in March, died at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital on Tuesday night.

Before he died, he had apparently told his father that a group of schoolboys had pinned him down and forced him to drink liquid, believed to be poisonous, after he scolded them for sniffing glue.

The alleged incident happened on April 26 while he was on his way home after meeting his old schoolmates at his former school.

Those in need of a sympathetic ear can call the Befrienders in Penang (04-281 5161/1108), Ipoh (05-547 7933/7955), Kuala Lumpur (03-7956 8144/8145), Seremban (06-7653 588/589), Johor Baru (07-331 2300), Kota Kinabalu (088-255 788) or email sam@befrienders.org.my.