Girl kills self after Facebook post - To the horror of her classmates, a troubled teenager died after falling from the second floor of her school

Wednesday February 9, 2011

Girl kills self after Facebook post
Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, RASHITHA A. HAMID, JOSHUA FOONG, K. ASHRAF KAMMED and CINDY TAN

MALACCA: To the horror of her classmates, a troubled teenager died after falling from the second floor of her school – just days after posting in her Facebook wall about wanting to take her own life.

In the 9.15am tragedy, Sally Lee Qian Chun, a Form 5 student, abruptly walked out during the Chemistry lesson in the laboratory on the first floor and went to her classroom a floor above.

Witnesses in SMK Seri Kota in Ayer Leleh were shocked to see Lee, 17, sitting precariously on the corridor ledge facing her empty classroom before she fell backwards. She suffered fatal head injuries.

Sally Lee Qian Chun, a Form 5 student

A close relative who refused to be named said Lee’s family, from Taman Bukit Katil, Bukit Katil, was puzzled as to why she would want to take her own life.

“She seemed happy during Chinese New Year.

“I even saw her on Monday and she looked fine and happy,” he said when met at the Malacca Hospital mortuary here yesterday.

However, it was a different story in Lee’s Facebook. Since Jan 17, she had posted several disturbing comments on her wall, even saying this would be her last Chinese New Year.

Her posting became more troubled last Friday when she wrote that she had planned to take her own life last month.

On Sunday night, at around 11.07pm, Lee lamented on her Facebook of a failed relationship and broken promises while reiterating her desire to take her own life.

Her remarks drew some taunts and dares from her online friends. Some commentators even asked her to go ahead with what she wanted to do.

In her last posting at 3.45pm on Monday, Lee reminded her friends to keep their promises of buying her a teddy bear and coffin. She also told them not to miss her when she was gone and to take care of themselves.

Lee, the eldest and only girl with two younger brothers, was described by teachers as a bright and well-behaved student. Her parents were too distraught to be interviewed.

State MCA chairman Datuk Gan Tian Loo arranged for a meeting at the school for Lee’s relatives to meet with several of her classmates.

Deadly plunge: The spot where Sally fell to her death yesterday from the second floor of her school block in SMK Seri Kota, Malacca

“The family is in shock and unable to accept that Lee would want to take her own life.

“They wanted to find out from her friends as to what had happened,” he said when met here.

Melaka Tengah OCPD Asst Comm Salehhudin Abd Rahman said the case was classified as sudden death.

Last December, a 22-year-old man took his own life after another failed relationship. He posted, also on Facebook, a 45-minute countdown to his suicide.

The youth jumped from the 14th floor of an apartment block in Cheras.

It was reported that the man became depressed after his girlfriend of four months broke up with him.