A teenage girl has shocked her family members by taking her own life after being urged by her Instagram followers.
File photo
A 16-year-old girl has ended her life by committing suicide after posting an Instagram poll asking if she should live or die.
Majority of respondents said yes, making her to take the decision to end her life.
According to AFP, the sad incident happened in Malaysia. The unidentified 16-year-old from Kuching in Sarawak died after posting the poll on Monday on the Facebook-owned picture sharing platform.
Police have classified the case as “sudden death”.
“Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L,” she wrote, according to a report on the news portal Astro Awani, with the letters “D” and “L” apparently referring to “die” or “live” respectively.
Sixty-nine per cent of votes cast were in favour of her ending her life, with just 31 per cent against, local media quoted police as saying.
Lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh called for a probe into the circumstances of her death.
“I urge the authorities to investigate the social media accounts of the victim and the circumstances that led to her death to prevent further abuse of social media in similar circumstances in the future,” he said.
“It is important that incidents such as this do not repeat themselves,” he added.
Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq tweeted that he was “genuinely worried” about the state of mental health of young people in Malaysia.
“It’s a national issue which must be taken seriously. A national discussion must take place,” he said.
Ching Yee Wong, head of communications for Instagram APAC, said in a statement: “Our thoughts and prayers are with this young woman’s family.
“We have a deep responsibility to make sure people using Instagram feel safe and supported. As part of our own efforts, we urge everyone to use our reporting tools and to contact emergency services if they see any behaviour that puts people’s safety at risk.”
In 2017, British teen Molly Russell took her own life after going online to read about suicide, sparking a debate about regulating children’s social media use.
Instagram subsequently announced a clampdown on images of self-harm.