Teenage Dutch rape victim Noa Pothoven was not legally euthanized, she died at home after voluntarily refusing to eat
17-year-old Noa Pothoven, who was previously reported to have been legally euthanized in the Netherlands, actually died at her home after voluntarily refusing to eat or drink the latest reports stated. There was no evidence her death was assisted.
Media organizations all over the world reported a Dutch “end-of-life” clinic performed legal euthanasia as Pothoven’s name trended on social media. However, she died at her parents’ home in Arnhem June 2.
For years the teenager had received treatment for severe depression and anorexia after she was raped and assaulted at a very young age. She concealed her sexual abuse for a long time out of shame and fear according to local media. The official cause of death has not been announced yet, but there is neither evidence of euthanasia nor assisted suicide, which are legal in the Netherlands.
In lieu of reports in the international media, De Levenseindekliniek, or the “end-of-life” clinic in The Hague, issued a statement Tuesday saying, “De Levenseindekliniek is approached from all over the world for a reaction to the death of seventeen-year-old Noa Pothoven. However, due to privacy rules, we cannot make any statements about this. To put an end to incorrect reporting (in foreign media in particular) about her death, we refer to the statement made by friends of Noa this afternoon: Noa Pothoven did not die of euthanasia. To stop her suffering, she has stopped eating and drinking.”
Pothoven first contacted the clinic in 2017 and in a December 2018 interview with de Gelderlander, she said, “They consider that I am too young to die,” adding, “They think I should finish my trauma treatment and that my brain must first be fully grown. That lasts until your 21st birthday. It’s broken me, because I can’t wait that long.”
In a social media post before her death, Pothoven wrote: "I deliberated for quite a while whether or not I should share this, but decided to do it anyway. Maybe this comes as a surprise to some, given my posts about hospitalization, but my plan has been there for a long time and is not impulsive.”
“I will get straight to the point: within a maximum of 10 days I will die. After years of battling and fighting, I am drained. I have quit eating and drinking for a while now, and after many discussions and evaluations, it was decided to let me go because my suffering is unbearable,” she added.