Noa Pothoven, a 17-year-old Dutch girl from the Netherlands has ended her life through legal euthanasia. The girl who had been a victim of rape as a child also suffered from depression. A state-authorized clinic assisted her with the process of euthanasia.

On Instagram, the young girl had put up a post saying: "I will die within a maximum of 10 days.” The very next day was her last one. She wrote: "After years of fighting and fighting it is finished. I have now stopped eating and drinking for a while and after many conversations and reviews, it has been decided that I will be released because my suffering is unbearable. It's finished." She had a blog in which she used to talk about her suffering for years.

Pothoven had written an award-winning book about her life experiences titled ‘Winning or Learning,’ in which she spoke about the depression she was experiencing and the sexual harassment and rape she was a victim of. She had not shared these for a long time due to the shame she felt.

The Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act of 2001 makes euthanasia legal in the Netherlands. Prior to assisted suicide, a physician is required to certify that the individual’s suffering is unbearable. Increased assisted suicides are being recorded. There was an 8% increase in 2017, with over 6500 such suicides in the Netherlands. Social media users have been debating on the incident. It is heartbreaking to see that an individual who had done no wrong had endured so much suffering leading to such a decision.