A 13-year-old American girl has taken her own life by jumping out of a moving car on a highway overpass, after her father allegedly humiliated her by cutting off her long hair as punishment and posting a short video of the incident on YouTube a few days earlier.
The case has reignited the controversial parenting issue of public shaming as punishment.
The girl was reportedly Isabel Laxamana of Tacoma and was a student at Jadron Middle School.
Blogger Jack Cameron wrote about both the public humiliation video and the suicide on his website Tacoma Stories, without naming the victim.
“Yesterday, this same girl got out of the passenger seat of her grandmother’s car. [an] “She jumped over the fence of the overpass and landed on top of a car,” he wrote.
“There are those who believe public humiliation is an acceptable form of parenting,” Cameron continued, “and as this case clearly shows, it is not. It is a form of abuse and has consequences.”
A spokesperson for the middle school declined to confirm the victim’s identity to Yahoo Parenting, but a Tacoma Police Department spokesperson told The Independent that Laksamana is both the girl who died and the one whose hair was cut in the video.
The original 15-second video, which was posted to YouTube in late May, then removed and reposted, is at the heart of this story.
The footage shows a girl with a bob haircut standing in front of a pile of freshly cut black hair.
Then she hears a voice from behind her that sounds like her father: “The result of all that mess? Oh, and all that beautiful hair gone. Was it worth it?”
The girl says “No,” and the voice continues. “How many times have I warned you?” she says, “Many times,” and the man replies, “I know.”
The News Tribune subsequently reported the girl’s suicide on June 1, but did not name her. Soon after, a website and a Facebook page memorializing Laksamana, both of unknown origin, appeared, as did a Flipagram memorial page.
* Readers seeking support or information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Callback Service on 1300 659 467.
