A private school in Karachi, Pakistan is in mourning after a male student killed a female classmate and then turned the gun on himself. This sad story is worsened by the fact that the student posted a warning sign on Facebook suggesting that he was considering such an act the day before he did it, but no one paid any attention to it.
Shots fired in Karachi school
According to reports, the two students were in class 10. The murder- suicide happened in a classroom at a private school in the Patel Para area of Karachi near Gurumandir in Pakistan. One of the students at the school told the news outlet that they heard gunshots while they were at assembly. He said when they went into the classroom where the gunshots came from, they found the male and female students lying dead in pools of blood.
Police are investigating the incident and are interviewing the students’ families and school administrators. Authorities said both of the students had penned letters to their parents before the murder- suicide, asking their families to forgive them. Police also said they’re still examining those letters to make sure they are authentic.
Facebook post hinted at suicidal thoughts
Before the murder- suicide, the male student reportedly uploaded a disturbing image to his Facebook profile which suggested he had been thinking about doing it the day before. The image shows a boy and girl hanging close together with scarves around their necks as if they were committing suicide by hanging themselves. However, apparently no one paid any attention to the image because it was not reported.
This incident highlights how important it is for family and friends to take any threats or comments about suicide or any other violent act seriously. Both students might still be alive today if the boy’s Facebook friends had taken the time take note of the image and do something about it. They could have reported the image to school administrators or family members, and the issue could have been dealt with before two young lives came to such a sudden, violent end.
Facebook suicide prevention feature not in Pakistan
Facebook is doing its part to try to prevent suicides in the U.S. However, the reporting feature is not available in Pakistan., and the company doesn’t appear to have plans to push the feature out to other countries.
In the U.S., the social network partnered with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Innovations in Suicide Prevention, Forefront, and Save.org for the feature. Facebook has had a suicide preventing feature in place since 2011 but improved it in February by beginning to work with the listed nonprofit organizations.
The feature now allows Facebook users to report to the social network when it appears like one of their friends may be depressed or contemplating suicide. They have the option to click “Report Post” using the arrow at the top right of a post containing disturbing content. The user can also contact the friend directly, ask another friend for help, or contact a suicide helpline on behalf of their friend.
Facebook then examines the reported post to decide whether it is suicidal in nature and will contact the user who posted it. The next time the user logs in, there will be some pop-ups regarding their post, and they can choose from among a few options like calling or messaging a friend or contacting a suicide helpline.
