Euthanasia rape victim teen’s poignant last moments – and choice of where to die

Milou Verhoof was given euthanasia at her own request aged 17, after living with severe psychological issues from a sex attack that happened when she was 13 years old

A teen rape victim who had her life ended by voluntary euthanasia had the lethal injection administered in her childhood bedroom.

Milou Verhoof, from the Netherlands, died on October 2, 2023, aged 17. She had lived with years of trauma after being raped at 13 years old, and requested assisted dying on psychological grounds.

A documentary titled ‘Milou’s Battle Continues’ followed her journey and the fierce political debate which followed her death, which saw campaign groups attempt to use her case to end the provision of euthanasia for young people. In 2002, Dutch lawmakers legalised medically assisted suicide on patients who make “voluntary and well considered” requests to end “unbearable” suffering, if there is no “prospect of improvement” and no reasonable alternative to dying.

On the day she died in 2023, Milou was given a fatal injection in her childhood bedroom by Dr Menno Oosterhoff, who has carried out a number of similar procedures on patients in the Netherlands. She had her nails done in preparation, and even chose an evening dress and high heels to wear in her coffin.

Milou’s mum, Mireille Verhoof, later praised the procedure given by Dr Oosterhoff, asserting it was the right decision for the teenager and their family.

“Because of Dr Oosterhoff’s extremely careful and cautious approach, we as parents trusted that his conclusion – that Milou truly could not go on and that the days were unliveable for her – was the only correct one and confirmed what we as parents had long seen in our child,” Verhoof told The Atlantic in an email.

In the Netherlands, the vast majority of doctor-assisted deaths continue to be associated with terminal physical illnesses, accounting for roughly 86% of the 9,958 cases recorded in 2024. But there has been a significant rise in euthanasia cases based purely on psychological suffering, climbing from 88 in 2020 to 219 in 2024.

In the past five years, doctors have performed euthanasia for psychiatric reasons on 675 occasions, surpassing the total number of such cases documented in the previous 18 years combined.

Milou’s case has received new attention following the death of 25-year-old Noelia Castillo, who was yesterday given euthanasia in Spain after being the victim of two rapes.

For nearly two years, she had been in a high-profile legal battle with her father, who had attempted to block the procedure with the support of a Christian advocacy group. He, her mother Yolanda and other members of her family visited her at the hospital in Barcelona in the hours before she died. Milou was alone with a doctor when she was administered three fatal injections, at her own request.

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