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Heartbroken Taapsee Pannu on influencer Misha Agarwal’s suicide due to ‘follower drop': This is something I long feared
On Wednesday, Taapsee Pannu took to Instagram to share her thoughts on Misha Agarwal’s death, shedding light on the impact of social media on mental health.
Actor Taapsee Pannu has reacted to the death of content creator Misha Agrawal, whose family claim that she committed suicide fearing the end of her career after a drop in Instagram followers. The actor described the incident as heartbreaking and expressed her concern over the growing obsession with virtual validation and social media metrics. Also read: Misha Agrawal's sister reveals influencer died by suicide: ‘Became so consumed by Instagram’
Taapsee Pannu on Misha Agrawal's death
On Wednesday, the actor took to Instagram to share her thoughts on Misha’s death, highlighting the impact of social media on mental health.
She 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”.
The Dunki actor added, "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."
About Misha’s death
On Wednesday, Misha's family shared a heartfelt statement on Instagram, revealing that she had centred her life around the platform with a singular goal of reaching one million followers. Her phone's screen lock even displayed this target.
In the 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."
The family stressed that they tried to remind her that Instagram was just a part of her life. The note added, “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.
The statement added that the family urged Misha on focus on happiness.“I urged her to let go of anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, my little sister didn't listen and became so consumed by Instagram and followers that she left our world forever. Tragically, she became so overwhelmed that she took her own life, leaving our family devastated,” she said.
Earlier, a post on Misha’s Instagram handle on April 26, shared, "Misha Agrawal , April 26, 2000 – April 24, 2025", without revealing the cause of death. The content creator died by suicide just two days before her 25th birthday.
Note: Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).
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