Panic over suicides prompted by online groups

ST PETERSBURG: Chilling online "death groups" on popular social media that egg on teenagers to kill themselves are causing panic in Russia after a string of teen suicides.
Hidden groups on social networking site VK, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, are reportedly controlled by "mentors" who incite their members to take their own lives.
The existence of these groups, highlighted in an investigation by Novaya Gazeta opposition newspaper last year, has rattled parents and sparked heated debate in a country where suicide is largely a taboo subject.
President Vladimir Putin has publicly expressed concern this month, calling for harsher punishments for those convicted of incitement to suicide — a crime that currently carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
Several dozen Russian teenagers out of the total of 130 who committed suicide between November 2015 and April 2016 were pressured by members of "death groups" on VK, who remain in the shadows as they spread a suicide cult, Novaya Gazeta reported.
A "mentor" on one death group, 22-year-old Filipp Budeikin, was arrested by investigators in the city of Saint Petersburg in November after allegedly inciting 15 teenagers on VK to commit suicide.
In an interview with local media shortly before his arrest, Budeikin outlined his tactics to attract teens he referred to as "biodegradable waste" and "people who are worthless for society." – AFP