Teenage girl ‘jumped to her death’ after posting Instagram poll on whether to kill herself
Around 69 per cent of 16-year-old's followers voted for 'death' in poll, police say
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A teenager has killed herself after posting a poll on her Instagram account asking followers if she should live or die, police in Malaysia said.
"Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L," the 16-year-old girl asked her followers.
Sarawak Police chief Aidil Bolhassan said she was found dead at the bottom of a building in the city of Kuching, on the island of Borneo.
He added that “D” stood for “death” while “L” stood for “life”.
"As many as 69 per cent of the teenager's Instagram friends had supported the decision for her to kill herself via a voting poll," he said.
Chief Bolhassan added that the girl had apparently been suffering from depression, and had also posted a message on Facebook which said: “WANNA QUIT F***ING LIFE I’M TIRED.”
He said she appeared to have jumped to her death from the third floor of a shopping centre.
Ramkarpal Singh, an MP in the north-western state of Penang, suggested that those who voted for her to die could be guilty of abetting suicide.
He said: "Would the girl still be alive today if the majority of netizens on her Instagram account discouraged her from taking her own life? Would she have heeded the advice of netizens to seek professional help had they done so?"
Under Malaysian law, anyone convicted of abetting the suicide of a minor could face the death penalty or up to 20 years in jail.
Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's youth and sports minister, also called for an investigation into the girl’s death highlighted the need for national-level discussions about mental health in the country.
"It is very unfortunate a young life was lost in this manner," he said.
Police do not believe anybody else was involved in the teenager's death. Her body has been taken to the Sarawak General Hospital Forensic Department for a postmortem.
In February, Instagram announced that it would add “sensitivity screens” to block images that promote self-harm or suicide. The screens will blur the image behind them until the user explicitly indicates they want to view the graphic content.
The move came in the wake of the death of British teenager Molly Russell, whose parents said she took her own life at the age of 14 after looking at self-harm posts on Instagram.
For confidential support in the UK, contact the Samaritans on 116 123. In the US, contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255.
Additional reporting by agencies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments