A Chinese teen sold as an infant has died by suicide after a social media search reunited him with his birth parents, who then abandoned him again, according to reports.
Liu Xuezhou, a 17-year-old aspiring teacher, died of an overdose of antidepressants early Monday at a hospital in Sanya, China, the Washington Post reported, citing Chinese media reports.
Prior to taking his life, he claimed in a lengthy note on Weibo — China’s version of Twitter — that he had been “abandoned twice” by his biological mother and father, the South China Morning Post reported.
He had been working as a teacher when he launched a viral quest to find his birth parents, who, according to his adoptive family, sold him as a baby for $4,200, most of which went to a middleman, the Washington Post reported.
Liu, however, spent most of his life being passed around among his adoptive relatives after a home explosion when he was 4 years old killed his new parents, local media reported.
After creating a video about his hopes of reuniting with his birth parents, authorities encouraged him to use a DNA database created to curb child trafficking and reunite families, the Washington Post reported.
The reunion was amicable at first, but his relationship with his birth parents reportedly became strained over claims that he had been sold, not given away.
Liu then asked them for his own place to live, which they reportedly could not afford.
His mother, identified solely by her surname, Zhang, said she ultimately cut him off because she wanted her “quiet life” back after the attention from the reunion.
“Parents are also human, and I felt scared,” Zhang told the Beijing News, adding she had been harassed and threatened after her son released a recording of one of their phone calls.
In his 10,000-word suicide note, Liu took aim at his critics who accused him of being selfish after reconnecting with his parents and asking them for financial support, the newspaper reported.
“Thanks to all those who cared for me and sorry that I failed you,” Liu wrote. “Wish there were fewer dark and malicious people in this world.”
He also revealed that he was bullied and molested in school, the Washington Post reported.
Liu, whose body was discovered at a beach in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, was found by people who started looking for him after reading his concerning social media posts, the South China Morning Post reported.
Liu’s death was confirmed by Chinese authorities, setting off a national conversation on cyberbullying and the mental health of children, especially those who have been abandoned. A hashtag of his name had been viewed 2.4 billion times on Weibo as of late Tuesday, the Washington Post reported.
His case “reflected reality for the underclasses,” according to a social commentary blog called Slave Society on WeChat.
“It began from child trafficking to losing his guardians, to school bullying, to molestation, to cyberbullying to suicide,” the post read. “It reflects how society treated this child over 15 years [and there were] gaping holes in legal and social support structures.”
