Upset Boyfriend Commits Suicide In Mall After Clothes Shopping Argument

A 38-year-old man jumped to his death from a balcony in a shopping mall in China after a heated row with his girlfriend over clothes shopping.

CCTV footage shows Tao Hsiao walking around with his girlfriend in the large mall in Xuzhou in the Jiangsu region of China. The couple can be seen carrying more shopping bags than they could reasonably carry from shop to shop.

After being schlepped around the mall for about five hours by his girlfriend, Tao insisted that he wanted to go home. A furious argument ensued when the girlfriend insisted on visiting one last store which was offering special Christmas deals on shoes.

An eyewitness told reporters: “He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a lifetime and it was pointless buying any more. She started shouting at him accusing him of being a skinflint and of spoiling Christmas, it was a really heated argument.”

The woman’s name calling seemed to push Tao over the edge as he struggled to carry the massive amount of shopping bags they had. He was seen throwing the bags to the ground before jumping over the balcony to his death.

He fell seven stories and landed on Christmas decorations displayed on the ground floor. Medics attended the scene, but Tao was pronounced dead.

A spokesperson for the mall where the incident occurred said that the man’s body was removed quickly from the mall:

“His body was removed fairly quickly. He actually landed on one of the stalls below and then fell to the floor so although the store was damaged it meant he didn’t hit anybody. This is a tragic incident, but this time of year can be very stressful for many people.”

It is not clear if the man who jumped to his death was suffering from a pre-existing medical condition or if he was just so stressed by the shopping experience with his girlfriend that he made a snap decision to kill himself.