Tragedy of girl, 16, who asked on Instagram: Should I kill myself?

A GIRL aged 16 jumped off a building to her death after asking social media followers to vote on whether she should kill herself, police have said.

The Malaysian teenager ran a poll on photo-sharing app Instagram with the question: ‘Help Me Choose D/L’ – with D/L said to mean ‘Death/Life’.

Hours later she jumped off the roof of a building in Sarawak, a state on the island of Borneo, Malaysian police said. The poll showed 69 per cent of followers chose ‘D’, but in a tragic twist the poll continued and eventually 88 per cent urged her to live.

District police chief Aidil Bolhassan said a post-mortem examination will be conducted, adding that the girl, who has not been named, had a history of depression. Malaysian MP Ramkarpal Singh said those who voted for the girl to die could face up to 20 years in jail for abetting suicide.

Instagram urged users to alert the emergency services about ‘behaviour that puts people’s safety at risk’.