A 17-year-old female student fell to her death in a building in Gangnam, Seoul, on the morning of the 17th. The background was pointed out to be an internet community where similar suicide cases had occurred several times in the past.
There were at least four women who made extreme choices around the same time as the female student who committed suicide in Gangnam, they were all active in the "Depression Gallery" in an online community, DC Inside. The users in the Depression Gallery posted numerous sexual harassment articles about these women. A famous user called 'Sindaebang Fam' met with girls in their 10s and sexually exploited them, making this community labeled as 'The Nth Room of DC Inside'.
It is suspected that user 'Sindaebang Fam' committed sexual assault, drug use, and assault on teenage girls by luring them with alcohol and cigarettes at their hideout in a residential area in Sindae-bang-dong, Seoul. Multiple anonymous informants claim that they took advantage of the psychological instability of teenage girls with depression to sexually exploit them. An anonymous said, "If you search for 'Sindaebang' on the 'Depression Gallery' from 2015 to 2021 before the server was moved, you can tell what kind of people they are. It's a place where men, who think it's easy to exploit mentally unstable girls, and young girls, who are at high risk of suicide, meet."
A person who identified themselves as a member of 'Sindaebang Fam' and also the ex-lover of 'Standstill', the teenage girl who took her own life, stated, "Sindaebang Fam lived together in a residential area and followed their leader, whom they referred to as "Dad", just like in the movie "Park Hwayoung"."
Five months before taking her own life, 'Standstill' was hospitalized in a mental institution after a suicide attempt and she was actively engaging in the online community mentioned before. The informant said, "Even after being discharged from the hospital, she will always show up every time 'Sindaebang Fam' call her to come". A, the deceased's ex-lover, was also a friend of B, a teenage girl who fell to her death the day before, on social media. Another two teenage girls, who go by the nicknames 'Kitty' and 'Jjab-yan', are known to have had sexual intercourse with members of 'Sindae-bang Fam'.
There have been testimonies that 'Sindae-bang Fam' members may have taken a drug called 'Codeine' with teenage girls. They also illegally purchased 'Zolpidem' (a psychoactive drug used to treat insomnia) and take it by mixing it with cold medicine and Soju.
When criticism against those involved in crimes and suicide cases is posted on the online community, the posts are always soon get deleted. One informant explained that when those critical posts are made, many users would report the post, resulting in its quick deletion.
One user, who is accused to be a member of 'Sindae-bang Fam' and having sexual intercourse with underage minors, refuted the allegations on his social media on the 17th, saying, "That is false information. I will be taking legal actions against false information and defamation."
In the "Depression Gallery Shelter", a chat room on Telegram, comments such as "I'm uploading the screen captures of the deleted posts", "The part-time workers are deleting the critical posts", etc, along with captures of posts and comments that critics them are being shared quickly.
As the incidents of teenage suicides continue to repeat, people are pointing to unsafe encounters with people from internet communities as the reason, and this case is similar to the 'Nth Room' case. It has also been revealed that illegal prostitution and drug deals are still ongoing through internet, from online communities and spreading to Twitter, Telegram, etc.
-This case should be investigated
-This is really horrible... How did the world end up becoming this horrible?
-It's another version of the 'Nth Room'... I hope that online community will be shut down
-Please do a thorough investigation of this case. It would be even better if they could shut down that online community.
-They're taking advantage of mentally unstable young girls and turning them into their own sex slaves... Just another South Korean thing happening in South Korea
-I feel like throwing up... Those a**holes are the ones who should kill themselves...
-When will they shut down DC Inside?
-Why would you meet up with strangers you know from the internet?ㅠㅠㅠ Please don't do that...
-Can't they do something about that online community?
-This is f*cking sickening
-What is the police doing now?? They need to investigate this case as soon as possible.
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