Authorities are trying to determine if the suicide of an Indian American student in Murphy, Texas is connected with the death of a classmate the same day, reports India West.
The parents of Ritu Sachdeva, 17, found their daughter dead in her bedroom January 31. The coroner determined Ritu died of an overdose of medications.
The same day police found Hillary Kate Kuizon, 17, dead from hanging in apparent suicide.
“Everyone loved Ritu so so so much,” Suchi Sachdeva, Ritu’s older sister, wrote on Facebook. “She was so bright, beautiful, quirky, and just all around amazing, inside and out. Gone too soon, only 17 years young.”
The National Alliance on Mental Health reports Asian American teen girls have the highest rate of suicide of any population in the country.
The Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum says a higher percentage of South Asian Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 test positive for symptoms of depression.
You can read about the symptoms of depression and learn more about Ritu’s life in India West.
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