Kristina ‘Kika’ Dukic suicide: Serbian YouTube star kills self after years of online bullying, including taunts from fans of a rival local Instagram star.
A YouTube star hailing from Serbia is thought to have killed herself after being bombarded with hateful messages on social media.
Kristina ‘Kika’ Dukic, 21, was found dead at home in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on December 8 after ‘years’ of alleged online abuse according to her family.
The death of the internet personality and social media influencer, who had more than a million followers across Instagram, YouTube and Twitch, was first made public by her mother Natasa.
A post, which has since disappeared, confirmed her passing, adding that anyone having suicidal thoughts should seek help.
A close friend of the influencer, Mira Vladisavljevic, told Serbian tabloid Telegraf: ‘A terrible thing happened last night.
Target of online bullying including from rival social media influencers
‘I appeal to all the media to carefully report on this case and on the girl who struggled with bullying for five years. Please understand.’
A string of social media posts suggested Kristina had been battling bullying online for several years.
In one video, she explained that whatever she did, it was never good enough.
Kristina had previously explain to critics, ‘that it was important to be happy and to do what you wanted in life before describing the hate-filled message she had received,’ according to the Sun.
This included people vilifying her appearance and accusing her of having plastic surgery.
One of her main critics was Serbian gamer Bogdan Ilic, as known as Baka Prase, who has more than a million Instagram followers.
He trawled through her videos, labelling her as a fake according to local media outlet Republika.
‘Kill yourself’
The newspaper also reports that, due to his large following, things quickly escalated and his supporters bombarded Kristina’s posts with hateful comments, including some which said: ‘Kill yourself.’
Bogdan has allegedly since tried to distance himself from the situation, claiming that he had become friends with Kristina before her death.
According to another local media outlet, Direktno, Bogdan claimed he was ‘among the first’ to be told of Kristina’s passing.
‘I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry I didn’t announce that we reconciled and became friends,’ he added.
Kristina’s final post, shared on November 11, read: ‘She said, ‘Where we goin’?’ I said, ‘The moon’.’
The circumstances surrounding her death are being investigated, the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia said.
An Instagram post from December 11 confirmed Kristina’s funeral will be held at one of Belgrade’s largest cemeteries in Lešće on December 14.
