Actress Taapsee Pannu reacted to content creator Misha Agarwal’s death by suicide, after the family revealed she took the drastic step fearing the end of her career, triggered by a drop in Instagram followers that left her ‘deeply depressed.’
Calling the incident ‘heartbreaking,’ Taapsee expressed concern over the growing social media obsession she had long feared witnessing in people around her.
On Wednesday, Taapsee took to her Instagram story and wrote, “This is something I long feared seeing the obsession of a lot of people around. Fear that a day will come the numbers here will overpower the love to live.”
“Fear that the desperate need of virtual love will blind u towards the real love around you. And this instant gratification and validation of likes n comments will overtake the degrees which make u worth much more. It’s heartbreaking to see this,” she added.
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Earlier today, on Wednesday, Misha’s family issued a statement on Instagram, sharing that Misha had built her entire world around Instagram, with the goal of reaching one million followers. Her phone’s screen lock even displayed this target.
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Issuing a statement, Misha’s family wrote, “My little baby sister had built her world around Instagram and her followers, with a single goal of reaching 1 million followers and gaining loving fans. When her followers started decreasing, she became distraught and felt worthless. Since April, she had been deeply depressed, often hugging me and crying, saying, ‘Jijja, what will I do if my followers decrease? My career will be over.”
Her family recalled trying to console her, reminding her that Instagram was just a part of her life, not the whole of it, and that it wouldn’t be the end if it didn’t work out. “I reminded her of her talents, her LLB degree, and her preparation for PCSJ, telling her that she’ll become a judge one day and doesn’t need to worry about her career,” read the statement.