In a heartbreaking incident, a 16-year-old queer artist Pranshu from Ujjain, MP, died by suicide on November 21. As per reports, they shared a reel on Diwali in which they wore a saree. The reel went viral and received hate comments.
Several social media users bullied the queer artist and shared homophobic comments. After receiving thousands of hate comments, Pranshu died by suicide.
Pranshu was a 10th-grade student and a self-taught makeup artist. They used to share videos on Instagram where they encouraged their followers to embrace their true selves.
Currently, the Ujjain Police is investigating Pranshu's death. Police have not found a suicide note.
It is worth noting that as per an assessment by GLAAD, it was found that Instagram's policies contribute to an unsafe environment for the queer community.
Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineer even testified before the US Parliament and talked about the dangers of Instagram. He claimed that he warned Mark Zuckerberg about the platform's failure to curb bullying and threats. Bejar also said that his warnings were allegedly ignored.
As per the data from the Trevor Project, it was found that hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ people increased by 70% from 2020 to 2021.
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