A 16-year-old Malaysian girl has killed herself after posting a poll on her Instagram asking followers to help her choose between life and death, and 69 percent of responders voted for her to die, Astro Awani reported.
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The teen’s tragic death has prompted Ramkarpal Singh, a prominent lawyer and MP in the northwestern state of Penang, to suggest that those who voted for her death should bear responsibility for abetting suicide.
“Would this 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? Did the encouragement of those netizens actually influence her decision to take her own life? Since attempted suicide is an offence in this country, it follows that abetting to attempt suicide may be, too”, he said.
Singh has called for a full investigation into the matter by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, having suggested that the girl was suffering from depression, which resulted in suicide.
“What is equally disturbing is that some 69% of the teenager’s Instagram followers had reportedly supported her desire to take her life in an online poll that she had posted on the said social media site just before she died”.
The girl is also said to have left a goodbye message on WeChat to her friends before committing suicide.
A preliminary investigation has reportedly indicated that the teen may have been frustrated with her father’s recent marriage in Singapore and the fact that he rarely came back to Malaysia to see her.