Pink hair prostitute taunts drive woman, 23, to suicide following 6 months of online abuse; mi

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.

Despite the then strict Covid-19 controls, she was determined to tell her grandfather in person because he brought her up after she lost her mother when she was just six months old.

However, after Zheng posted photos of her looking at the acceptance letter with her bedridden grandfather on her Xiaohongshu account, she was shocked to find that she became the target of online bullies because of her dyed pink hair.

She was described as a “nightclub girl” or an “evil spirit” by people crudely linking her hairstyle with prostitution.

Some stole her photos and used them as publicity material to sell courses and others even used the photos to invent hurtful rumours about an elderly man marrying a young lady.

Zheng initially reacted with tough measures, including issuing a cease-and-desist letter, vowing to sue the online bullies.

She also kept speaking out against cyber violence on her social media accounts.

In addition, Zheng posted positive statements about life to show the bullies that she did not care.

However, amid the positivity, there were down moments.

On August 25, Zheng published a post titled “Why most people who suffer from online bullying chose to end their life”, accusing social media platforms of not doing enough to stop online victimisation.

Despite the fact that some of the bullies issued open apologies, Zheng said she was finding things difficult to deal with.

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“We should speak carefully online because once you say something bad, it can only be forgiven but not forgotten,” Zheng said in another post.

Haunted by the nastiness of her abusers, Zheng was diagnosed with depression in July last year before recovering and then suffering a relapse three months later.

After learning of Zheng’s death, online observers flocked to her social media accounts to leave comments, telling her she did nothing wrong and she looked beautiful.

“You looked amazing with pink hair. Those bullies were only misogynists jealous of your good educational background,” said one commenter.

Another expressed sorrow at the fact that it was her, instead of the online bullies, who paid the price: “People are paying an outrageously small price for hurting others online”.

“I wish you will become a pink flower that grows forever in the spring,” mourned a third.

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