Faceboook addiction has reached a new, dangerous high. A teenage girl committed suicide after her parents banned her from using the social networking website.
Aishwarya S Dahiwal, 17, from the Indian state of Maharashtra was reportedly denied access to Facebook by her parents, Wednesday, thinking that it was affecting her studies. This prompted the young student to lock herself up in her room and later hang herself, Thursday.
"Is Facebook so bad? I cannot stay in a home with such restrictions, as I can't live without Facebook," Aishwarya wrote in her suicide statement.
The incident has shocked the Dahiwal family. Arishwarya's father, Sunil Dahiwal, said all they wanted was their daughter to focus on her studies. "We still can't believe it," her father told India Real Time, Friday.
"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."
Over 90 percent of the Indian youth use Facebook. A survey by Tata Consultancy Services in June found that almost 92 percent high school students in the country relied on Facebook as means of communication than phone calls.
Johnson Thomas, director of Mumbai-based helpline Aasra, suggests that parents should take significant efforts to communicate with their children.
"Parents should take out more time to understand the needs of their children, communicate better a build a strong relationship with them. This will greatly alleviate the problem," she told the Wall Street Journal.
