We present optical and ultraviolet photometry, as well as optical spectra, for the type II supernova (SN) 2015bf. Our observations cover the phases from $sim 2$ to $sim 200$ d after explosion. The first spectrum is characterised by a blue continuum with a blackbody temperature of $sim 24,000$K and flash-ionised emission lines. After about one week, the spectra of SN 2015bf evolve like those of a regular SN II. From the luminosity of the narrow emission component of H$alpha$, we deduce that the mass-loss rate is larger than $sim 3.7times10^{-3},{rm M_odot,yr^{-1}}$. The disappearance of the flash features in the first week after explosion indicates that the circumstellar material is confined within $sim 6 times 10^{14}$ cm. Thus, we suggest that the progenitor of SN 2015bf experienced violent mass loss shortly before the supernova explosion. The multiband light curves show that SN 2015bf has a high peak luminosity with an absolute visual magnitude $M_V = -18.11 pm 0.08$ mag and a fast post-peak decline with a $V$-band decay of $1.22 pm 0.09$ mag within $sim 50$ d after maximum light. Moreover, the $R$-band tail luminosity of SN 2015bf is fainter than that of SNe~II with similar peak by 1--2 mag, suggesting a small amount of ${rm ^{56}Ni}$ ($sim 0.009,{rm M_odot}$) synthesised during the explosion. Such a low nickel mass indicates that the progenitor of SN 2015bf could be a super-asymptotic-giant-branch star that collapsed owing to electron capture.
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