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Student cites Facebook bullying in suicide note

Raksha Sharma, a computer engineering student in India, claimed in her final note that cyberbullying drove her over the edge. 

 

Kevin Collier

IRL

Posted on Aug 15, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 12:47 pm CDT

A woman in India has committed suicide, writing in a final note that it was being bullied on Facebook that drove her over the edge.

Raksha Sharma, either 18 or 20 years old—reports are mixed—was a computer engineering student at Mehr Chand Polytechnic College in Punjab, India, whose parents were reportedly killed by militants. She was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her doorway in her hostel Tuesday morning.

The exact contents of the note are unavailable, but police said they’re combing her Facebook account to verify its claims. On Wednesday, the two alleged bullies, both 21-year-old men and students at the same university, were arrested.

One of those men, Lovepreet Singh, denied having recent contact with Sharma.

“I haven’t spoken to her in three months, and she even considered me as her brother,” Singh told New Delhi Television. “I don’t know how my name has come up in her note.”

Police acknowledged Sharma and Singh had once been friends but said Sharma had stopped talking with Singh, and that he frequently texted her and had threatened to throw acid on her, the Times of India reported. The young men’s “obscene” Facebook comments were the final straw, police said.

Deepak Saini, the other arrested student, admitted he’d posted mean comments—it’s unclear if they were to Sharma’s wall or sent in private messages—but said she’d responded and didn’t seem fazed.

“I feel bad she killed herself,” Saini said. “But I am not responsible.”

Photo by @boetter

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*First Published: Aug 15, 2012, 2:52 pm CDT