POLICE TO PROBE SUICIDE OF MOTHER ON FACEBOOK LIVE
Cebu City Police Office wants to determine if Kiane Shannon Cañares had a traumatic experience that led her to commit suicide Dr. Rene Obra of VSMMC said the victim’s act was meant to make her family feel guilty; he urges suicidal persons to seek medical help
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) will investigate the case of the 21-year-old single mother who hanged herself in front of her three-year-old daughter, while airing it on Facebook Live last July 3 at her house in Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City.
CCPO Chief Joel Doria said that the investigation aims to determine if Kiane Shannon Sophie Cañares had a traumatic experience before she commit- ted suicide.
Doria said that the family requested time and privacy and that they will issue a statement once the victim is laid to rest.
This is a sensitive case. That’s why we are handling this carefully but the truth will come out,” Doria said.
Cañares broadcasted her suicide on Facebook Live when she tied an extension cord around her neck. But the video has been taken down from the social networking site.
“Our investigators are collecting information from friends and relatives who can help us know why she took her own life and even broadcasted it on Facebook,” Doria said.
He said that even if there was no foul play, the police will look into the events that led her to commit suicide.
The police official wanted to know why the family failed to report the incident to the police.
“Even natural deaths are put in the police blotter. How much more this incident? This is the first time that we had this kind of incident,” Doria added.
Meanwhile, a psychologist believes that Cañares’s act was meant to make her family guilty of what she has gone through.
Dr. Rene Obra, chief of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) Center for Behavioral Sciences, said it was the first time he came across a case that a victim posted the act of killing herself on social media.
Obra told SunStar Cebu that the family of Cañares should have seen signs that she was planning to kill herself.
“Kaduha na siya ni attempt. That means that she is high risk,” he said.
Stressful events or those that cause post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also lead to suicidal tendencies, Obra said.
He urged the family of suicidal persons to immediately seek medical help.
“It doesn’t mean that when you seek the help of a psychologist, automatic nga buang ka,” he said.
Orba urged those who feel that they are suicidal to call the VSMMC Tabang Paglaum hotline. He assured that the trained personnel will listen and provide advice to people who are thinking of committing suicide. Hopeline Cebu can also be reached at 0939-9365433 or 0939-9375433.