17-year-old Girl kills herself after parents ban her from Facebook

• Posted on October 28, 2013October 28, 2013
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The parents of a 17-year-old Indian girl who killed herself late Wednesday after they barred her from Facebook, have said that they are in deep shock at her death and simply wanted her to concentrate more on her studies.

Aishwarya S. Dahiwal, a second-year college student from Parbhani in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, had asked her parents’ consent to log on to Facebook Wednesday night, police investigating the case said.

An argument ensued during which Ms. Dahiwal was reproached by her parents for “paying less attention to her studies,” using social networking sites and making long phone calls to friends, G.H. Lemgude, the investigating police officer in Parbhani told India Real Time Friday.

Her body was found on Thursday morning. She had killed herself by hanging, the police said.

Ms. Dahiwal’s death has once again put the spotlight on the teenage suicide trend in Maharashtra, one of India’s most developed states.

In a note recovered from Ms. Dahiwal’s room after her death, according to police, the teenager wrote that her parents’ decision not to allow her to access Facebook had driven her to decide to take her own life.

Her father Sunil Dahiwal told India Real Time Friday: “We still can’t believe it. We are in deep shock.”

“We just wanted her to focus on her studies. We never thought she would ever take such a harsh step,” Mr. Dahiwal added.

-The Wall Street Journal