Mystery behind suicide of young Nour Merheb

The young Nour Merheb, 26, decided to put an end to his life last Friday in a room in Amsheet. Nour videotaped the suicide on his cellphone as he put a bag over his head and proceeded to inhale helium.

Security forces seized the video and opened an investigation to figure out the reason behind the suicide.

Nour, who studied Law and owned a translation company, was described by his parents as “a genius”; they attributed his suicide to the fact that he could not reach his goals.

“I hadn’t seen him or heard his voice for two weeks; he was not a talker”, his mother said, adding that Nour warned them two years ago that he wanted to commit suicide.

As soon as news of his death began to spread across the internet, Facebook pages and websites were flooded with expressions of support for his suicide, including people who wanted to have the same fate.

Psychoanalyst Chawki Azouri told LBC that this phenomenon among youth is known as “collective delirium”, adding that Nour’s friends should absolutely not follow in his footsteps. “The internet has a negative impact in such matters”, he said.