‘Pink hair prostitute’ taunts drive woman, 23, to suicide following 6 months of online abuse; millions in China mourn death
- 23-year-old Zheng Linghua had everything to live for but online bullies made her life a misery
- Some suggested a photo of her with the beloved grandpa who brought her up after her mother died was an image of a married couple
Millions have contributed to an outpouring of grief on Chinese social media following the death of a young woman who took her own life after she faced a sustained campaign of online bullying.
Zheng Linghua committed suicide on January 23 after a six-month battle against online abuse by people who attacked her for having pink hair after she shared a post celebrating her admission to graduate school alongside her bedridden grandfather. She was 23.
“My friend, Zheng Linghua, left us forever on January 23, 2023,” the woman’s friend, with the handle @Aweiweio, said on Xiaohongshu, announcing her death on February 19, 2023.
The young woman from eastern China was looking forward to starting her studies at the graduate school of East China Normal University, where she was due to major in music education.
Zheng could not wait to share the news with her grandfather, who had been hospitalised for nine months.
