<p>A 16-year-old queer artist allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after facing a slew of hate comments on an Instagram Reel that they posted on Diwali.</p><p>According to reports, the teen, identified as Priyanshu Yadav from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, hanged themself using their mother’s dupatta on November 21 while they were alone at home. </p><p>Priyanshu, a self-taught makeup artist and social media influencer with over 23,000 followers on Instagram, used to post content on makeup, beauty and skincare. The reel the artist posted on Diwali was a transition video of them in a red sari which garnered thousands of homophobic and hateful comments. </p><p>Activist and actor Trineta Haldar Gummaraju of <em>Made In Heaven</em>-fame claimed that there are over 4,000 homophobic remarks in the comment section of the artist's video, which abetted them to die by suicide. </p><p>“Self taught makeup artist, so much grace, so beautiful. They posted a Diwali reel in a saree like so many of us did. After all, the online space is safer than the real world for so many of us. But is it, though? 4000+ hate comments on their reel. The number of profiles, educated or otherwise, dedicated to humiliating queer and trans folk - profiles that never get taken down - is absurd,” she posted on her Instagram handle. </p>.<p>“The hashtag #JusticeForPranshu shows no posts, because some apparently violate community guidelines. There have been times I’ve reported profiles spewing absolute and pure hate with 60k+ followers personally to Meta folks we know. They don’t get taken down. Are we happy now? A child is gone. Just like that,” her post read. </p><p>Several members of the LGBTQIA+ community have voiced their grief and concern over the incident and called for stringent measures to tackle cyberbullying on social media platforms. </p>
<p>A 16-year-old queer artist allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after facing a slew of hate comments on an Instagram Reel that they posted on Diwali.</p><p>According to reports, the teen, identified as Priyanshu Yadav from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, hanged themself using their mother’s dupatta on November 21 while they were alone at home. </p><p>Priyanshu, a self-taught makeup artist and social media influencer with over 23,000 followers on Instagram, used to post content on makeup, beauty and skincare. The reel the artist posted on Diwali was a transition video of them in a red sari which garnered thousands of homophobic and hateful comments. </p><p>Activist and actor Trineta Haldar Gummaraju of <em>Made In Heaven</em>-fame claimed that there are over 4,000 homophobic remarks in the comment section of the artist's video, which abetted them to die by suicide. </p><p>“Self taught makeup artist, so much grace, so beautiful. They posted a Diwali reel in a saree like so many of us did. After all, the online space is safer than the real world for so many of us. But is it, though? 4000+ hate comments on their reel. The number of profiles, educated or otherwise, dedicated to humiliating queer and trans folk - profiles that never get taken down - is absurd,” she posted on her Instagram handle. </p>.<p>“The hashtag #JusticeForPranshu shows no posts, because some apparently violate community guidelines. There have been times I’ve reported profiles spewing absolute and pure hate with 60k+ followers personally to Meta folks we know. They don’t get taken down. Are we happy now? A child is gone. Just like that,” her post read. </p><p>Several members of the LGBTQIA+ community have voiced their grief and concern over the incident and called for stringent measures to tackle cyberbullying on social media platforms. </p>