A beautiful 13-year-old girl with long and flowing black hair was publicly shamed by her father for an unknown offense. The father decided that a proper punishment for the offense would be to chop off her gorgeous black hair and post the video online. In the video it shows the girl with her newly chopped off hair as she stands next to a pile of her beautiful black locks on the floor. However, the public humiliation and punishment apparently took an emotional toll on the child, who jumped off a bridge onto a busy interstate just days after the video was uploaded online. Izabel Laxamana, who attended Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma, Washington, exited the passenger’s seat of her grandmother’s vehicle, climbed over the bridge railing, and jumped “without hesitation” from the bridge before landing on a car below. The young girl had committed suicide.
The News Tribune reports that a girl “jumped or fell” off the bridge at around 5 p.m. on Friday and died in the hospital on Saturday. Since the incident, friends and parents that knew the young girl have taken to social media to express their disbelief and sadness over the passing of Izabel, who many just call “Izzy”.
We love you baby girl ?? pic.twitter.com/g0HzOGZ32r
— noooori (@ohaitsnori) May 30, 2015
Hey Baby, already missin’ you. ?? Have lots of fun with the man upstairs, you’re no longer in pain, Love you! #RIP ?? pic.twitter.com/Kz4SjPAKpV
— Sunarey (@sunareyyy_) May 31, 2015
Rest easy Izabel Laxamana????? pic.twitter.com/vNP4mKML4G — Adrian V. Kruy (@King_Kruy7) May 31, 2015
In addition to expressing grief, others are expressing anger at the “abuse” that Izzy suffered at the hands of her father. A parent who was assisting in Izabel’s science class noted that the girl was crying and that had she known what the student had been through she would have called the police.
“We all got the word at the bridge. Lots of Sobbing and hugging going around. I am glad I was there with my daughter to support her and her feelings through this. If I had know what izzy was crying about in science class when I was there, I would of taken her home with me and called police.”
The “public shaming” that many reference in their outpouring of support of Izzy’s plight occurred via Instagram. The girl’s father can be seen videoing the teen as she stands next to a pile of black hair on the floor. The girl’s story can be read at Tacoma Stories and details of exactly what is happening in the video is described below.
“A few days ago a 15 second video showed up online. It showed a young girl who appeared to be twelve or thirteen years old. She’s standing in a room looking at the phone camera. She appears to be afraid. The camera then shows the floor where there is a pile of long black hair. A taunting male voice says, ‘The consequences of getting messed up? Man, you lost all that beautiful hair. Was it worth it?’ The girl stares at her hair on the floor. She very quietly says, ‘No.’ ‘How many times did I warn you?’ She almost inaudibly says, ‘Twice.’ He then says, ‘Okay.’ as if he has proved a point. The video ends.
Rumors are running high in the school, with some saying that the public shaming video of Izzy’s haircut was not the only action taken against the girl that day. A parent who says their child was a “close friend” of Izabel claims that she saw the horrifying video before it was taken down and that the father also “cut her undergarments” and “destroyed her clothing.”
“Since Friday my 14 year old a close friend of this young girls, began to tell me this story. Saturday saw a link of the video, had been crying and very sad explaining to me that she was told the father not only cut her hair, posted a video, but also had cut her undergarments, destroyed her clothing and yes publicly humiliated her. I watched that video and I was so crushed, the anger in the father’s voice I could hear it, the girls shoulders slightly rolled forward in shame,hands in front if her face, showed she was not only shamed by this horrible man, but she looked very frightened. I am a very proud mother of a Giudrone Middle School child, and hearing that a female child was degraded to a point so bad rips my entire soul out.”
Still, others say there was “continuous” abuse by her father that was never addressed.
RIP Izabel Laxamana from Tacoma, committed suicide at only 13 due to continuous abuse by her father. Take care of your children, please.
— elizabeth (@khinotskaya_xx) May 30, 2015
Though the details surrounding the events that lead to the unfortunate death of this beautiful girl are unknown, witnesses claim that the girl did in fact jump on her own free will and did so “without hesitation.”
“From the boys who actually witnessed it, said she just ran, jumped up on the fencing and leaped over. No hesitation. just did it.”
As blogger Jack Cameron points out , public shaming may be considered a serious “form of abuse” with very real consequences. What do you think? Is public shaming a form of child abuse ?
[Image Credit: Twitter]