A prompt alert from Meta enabled Uttar Pradesh Police to reach a Bareilly residence within 16 minutes and save a 20-year-old student who had posted a suicide-related message on Instagram, according to a press note issued by the DGP Headquarters, Uttar Pradesh.
How the alert was triggered?
On August 31, 2025, the student from the C.B. Ganj police station area posted on Instagram showing a packet of “sulphas” tablets alongside a message suggestive of self-harm. At 12:45 pm the same day, Meta emailed an alert to the Social Media Centre at the DGP Headquarters.
DGP Uttar Pradesh Rajiv Krishna directed immediate action on receiving the alert. Using the mobile number shared in the alert, the headquarters team identified the student’s location and informed Bareilly police without delay.
Police reach in 16 minutes; first aid administered
Acting on the information and location details, a team led by the woman sub-inspector of C.B. Ganj police station reached the student’s home in just 16 minutes. Officers found her ingesting tablets and in a state of distress. With family members’ help, police administered basic first aid.
During questioning, the student said she had been depressed. She had become friends with a young man on Instagram and developed feelings for him. After the man, on a friend’s advice,stopped speaking to her and blocked her number, she became upset. While her father had stepped out to a wheat field, she used the same tablets with the intention of taking her life.
Local police prevented the suicide in time and conducted counselling. The student assured officers she would not repeat such an act. Her family thanked Uttar Pradesh Police for their promptness and support.
The Meta-UP Police alert system
The press note adds that since 2022, Meta has been sharing alerts by email and phone with Uttar Pradesh Police whenever suicide-related posts appear on Facebook or Instagram. Acting on these alerts, from January 1, 2023 to August 25, 2025, the police say they have safeguarded the lives of 1,315 individuals.
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