Readers may find some details in this article upsetting.

The Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander reported this week that a 17-year-old girl who documented on Instagram her pursuit of euthanasia — an assisted death — had died.

Noa Pothoven described having post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety after two men raped her when she was 14, and last year she wrote an award-winning autobiography about her struggle. Her sister told the newspaper she died on Sunday.

According to De Gelderlander, Pothoven told her Instagram followers on Saturday that she had stopped eating, writing, "I breathe but no longer live." Doctors, with her family's agreement, decided not to force-feed her.

"After years of fighting and fighting it is finished," she said, according to the newspaper. "After many conversations and assessments it was decided that I will be released because my suffering is unbearable."

De Gelderlander reported last year that the Dutch state had refused to grant Pothoven permission for euthanasia, which is legal in the country, citing her youth.

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A 17-year-old Dutch girl who was raped by two men at the age of 14 has died, the Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander reported this week.

Noa Pothoven detailed her trauma on Instagram, telling how, after years of pain, she was allowed to starve herself to death.

She had earlier asked Dutch authorities for permission for euthanasia — an assisted death — but was refused, De Gelderlander reported.

Pothoven died at her home in Arnhem on Sunday, her sister told the newspaper.

Pothoven had written about struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anorexia after a string of sexual assaults. She detailed her experiences both on her Instagram page and in an autobiography.

After years of failed treatment, Pothoven said on Saturday that she had stopped eating. She did not specify how long she had not eaten.

A representative for Lisa Westerveld, a member of the Dutch parliament who was close to Pothoven, told the website Dutch News that "as far as we know, she died because she didn't eat any more."

Senza sminuire la terribile sofferenza della rahazzina, questa legge è un crimine in circostanze simili. Si poteva e si doveva fare di più. Riposa in pace piccola❤️ #noapothoven A post shared by nicola (@sturmtruppen1) on Jun 4, 2019 at 3:17pm PDT Jun 4, 2019 at 3:17pm PDT

In Pothoven's last Instagram post on her private account, she wrote, according to De Gelderlander: "After years of fighting and fighting it is finished. After many conversations and assessments it was decided that I will be released because my suffering is unbearable. It's finished. I have not really been alive for so long, I survive, and not even that. I breathe but no longer live."

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Pothoven told De Gelderlander in December, when she was 16, that an end-of-life clinic in The Hague had denied her request for euthanasia because she was too young.

Pothoven's Instagram account, where she documented her attempts to secure euthanasia. Instagram

Pothoven's parents told the newspaper: "What must, what can we still do? We have tried everything."

"Which institution can still help her?" they asked, saying she had lost hope of ever recovering.

Numerous reports earlier this week appeared to misunderstand Pothoven's story and said that she received legal euthanasia.

The Dutch state did ultimately consent to her death and agreed not to intervene, Pothoven said on Instagram, according to Dutch media and the Politico reporter Naomi O'Leary. But the action Pothoven described would not meet the conventional definition of euthanasia — as seen, for example, in Britain's National Health Service's definition.

O'Leary said the description of Pothoven's death as euthanasia began in English-language reports that "made a leap."

The Netherlands was the first country to legalize euthanasia, in 2001. Authorities there require evidence of "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement." Several other countries, including Luxembourg, allow euthanasia under varying conditions.

Pothoven wrote an autobiography in 2018 about her struggle, titled "Winning or Learning." Part of the translated blurb reads: "She still does her very best to survive every day."

Nog even geduld mensen, maar het uitgeefproces begint te lopen 😊 Ik heb binnenkort een gesprek met een man die mij gaat helpen bij het uitgeven. Hij zei dat hij erg onder de indruk was van mijn boek 😊 Zouden julle het leuk vinden als ik hele kleine stukjes uit het boek plaats op dit account, als soort van voorproefjes? ❤❤ #winnenofleren #autobiografie A post shared by Winnen of Leren (@winnenofleren) on Jun 26, 2018 at 2:16am PDT Jun 26, 2018 at 2:16am PDT

In her book, Pothoven described being assaulted at a school party at 11, and again when she was 12. When she was 14, she wrote, she was raped by two men in Arnhem. She said she initially did not tell anyone what happened or go to the police, out of shame and fear.

Her teen years were blighted by anorexia, and she was in various institutions, including one where she was fed through a tube, according to De Gelderlander.

Eventually, her mother concluded that she would be best treated at a clinic that specializes in youth psychiatry, "where she can stay and where all her physical and mental problems are addressed," she told the newspaper. But no places were available.

"That's crazy," Pothoven told the Dutch paper. "If you have a serious heart disease, you can undergo surgery within a few weeks. But if you become acutely mentally ill, then they say casually, 'Unfortunately, we are full. Just go on the waiting list.' And you have to know that one in 10 anorexia patients in the Netherlands dies from the consequences of the eating disorder."