How a Instagram post, Meta alert helped UP cops foil college student suicide bid in 16 minutes

NEW DELHI: A photo of pesticide tablets with a despairing Instagram caption almost became a 20-year-old woman’s last post, but a swift police response saved her life in just 16 minutes.Police said the rescue was part of an ongoing initiative under which 1,315 people in Uttar Pradesh have been saved since January 2023, based on suicide-related alerts generated by Meta from Facebook and Instagram posts.According to a police spokesperson, the latest case was flagged at 12.45 pm on August 31 when Meta’s social media monitoring system alerted the state police about a Bareilly student’s post showing pesticide tablets with a suicidal message.The alert was escalated to senior officers, and DGP Rajiv Krishna ordered immediate action. Using the mobile number shared by Meta, police traced the student’s location in CB Ganj area and dispatched a team.“Within 16 minutes of receiving the alert, a sub-inspector and women constables reached the student’s house. She was found vomiting and in a distressed state,” the spokesperson said. She was given first aid and later revealed she had attempted suicide after a man she befriended on Instagram blocked her following an argument.The pesticide, police said, had been purchased by her father for wheat crops.The state police’s system to receive alerts from Meta has been functional since 2022. “Between January 1, 2023 and August 25, 2025, police acted on such alerts and saved 1,315 lives,” the statement added.